The return of former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Jan. 12 was one of the most closely watched events in recent memory, perhaps barring only the political scandal that has afflicted the impeached president Park Geun-hye. When Ban arrived, hundreds of his supporters greeted him rapturously at the airport. The beleaguered conservatives were quick to claim him as their own, beseeching him to represent them in this year’s presidential election. The progressives eyed him warily as an obstacle to their electoral victory. Everywhere he went, he was the news.
