Table of Contents
Artificial Intelligence and Medicine
Kim Kyung-jin, Attorney at Law
AI in clinical care, hospitals, education, and research
AI in medical imaging, risk prediction, treatment planning, hospital operations, education, and research, with patient safety, privacy, and accountability.
[AI Library] Chapter 31: A Regular Visitor to Secondhand Markets
The Han Dong-hoon Story
Chapter 31: A Regular Visitor to Secondhand Markets
Kim Kyung-jin
The Han Dong-hoon Story
PART 07 Han Dong-hoon the Person · Source Text 04
"When all this is over, I'm thinking I might return to my 'Mule ahjusshi' life again." This remark by Han Dong-hoon during a YouTube live broadcast in April 2025 became a major topic of conversation among his supporters.
'Mule ahjusshi'. This word is slang for middle-aged men who are active on 'Mule', Korea's largest used musical instrument trading site.
Han Dong-hoon owned a Fender Stratocaster and Jazzmaster, and enjoyed collecting and trading used amplifiers and effects pedals.
He enjoyed not merely purchasing instruments, but the process of direct trading itself,checking the condition of items and conversing with sellers.
However, when Han Dong-hoon became Minister of Justice and his face became widely recognized, this modest hobby ran into obstacles.
"After my face became known, whenever I went out to do secondhand trading, people would recognize me."
And what followed drew laughter from the viewers.
"They would ask for such steep discounts that I thought I shouldn't go anymore. Asking me to cut the price in half,that's not right, is it?"
An ordinary politician would have sent a staff member or concealed his identity.
But he went to the trading site himself, and while bewildered by the unreasonable price haggling, he took it in stride with humor.
This anecdote contains the full measure of Han Dong-hoon's character.
He is modest about his guitar skills, saying he plays only at a "bedroom guitarist level." Yet from anecdotes like spending time playing Jimi Hendrix songs during his days in Busan, and the way he explains slide guitar technique in detail, it is evident he possesses considerable knowledge and ability.
An acquaintance asked him.
"Why didn't you just ask for a discount on a used item?"
Han Dong-hoon replied this way.
"Someone who knows the value of this item is selling it because of circumstances. If I were to ask for a reduction, wouldn't that be wrong? That is not proper conduct."
His character is contained in this brief exchange.
He does not seek to profit from others' hardship. This is how he treats those in a weaker position when he holds the stronger one. Even with a secondhand trading partner he had never met, he tried to uphold 'fairness' and 'respect'.
The guitars he collected are not merely pieces of wood. They are evidence of his respect for others' stories and their worth.
Late at night, when he plugged his guitar into the amplifier and quietly plucked the strings, he forgot the world's noise and faced himself completely. A sanctuary where he could breathe as the private 'Han Dong-hoon' rather than the public one. That is what guitar and 'Mule' mean to him.
His firm yet endearing protest of "No discounts allowed" is a moment where his principle-centered character shows through in his hobby.
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Kim Kyung-jin
Attorney · Former Member of the National Assembly · AI Policy Researcher
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