Politicians’ words can make or break their careers. Every politician knows this, and many, especially those with high ambitions, go to great lengths to avoid crossing the line. Gyeonggi Province Gov. Choo Mi-ae recently made a serious mistake, revealing a lack of sensitivity to the pitfalls of political rhetoric by publicly insulting firefighters. It is hard to understand how a seasoned politician like Choo, with extensive experience as an elected official, failed to guard against such a slip of the tongue. Words, once spoken, cannot be taken back. On Saturday, Choo issued a public apology for her inappropriate remarks about firefighters. In a social media post, she expressed regret for causing trouble and stressed that she had never intended to disrespect firefighters or belittle their work. “I didn’t take their sacrifices lightly. But I am truly sorry if there are any firefighters or their family members who were hurt by my words,” she wrote. It was her second social media post about firefighters that day. In her first message, she paid tribute to a firefighter who was killed