The 'Red muffler' incident that shocked South Korea in 1997

In 1997, a controversial video of underage teens engaging in sexual activity sparked controversy in South Korea. The video, known as "Red muffler" because one of the participants wore a red scarf, was filmed by a group of male high school students, including Kim Morgan from Songpa Gongo in Seoul, with his 15-year-old girlfriend, Choi Mo Yang.

The group used an 8mm camcorder in their private residence to simulate group sex scenes from foreign pornographic films. The video was then copied and distributed in various locations, including Cheonggyecheon, a popular downtown area. Choi was later sentenced to two years' probation for her involvement.The video, originally titled "Watch the Video," was named because Choi wore a red muffler around her neck while engaging in sexual activity. The video showed several male students taking turns having sex with Choi, and was likely copied multiple times due to its poor quality.

The video was widely circulated through underground channels, and some of the boys who were caught watching it received harsh punishments, including expulsion. The scandal was so significant that during the 15th South Korean presidential election, candidates were asked what they would say to Choi if they met her.The original camcorder tape was later duplicated and distributed on the internet, and some P2P platforms still host copies. Because the videos depicted sexual acts of minors, they were classified as child pornography under current South Korean law, and viewers could be punished for viewing them.

At the time, PC communication channels were inundated with inquiries to obtain their videos, and posts by people over the age of 20 openly requesting videos of younger children sparked controversy. After the incident, former participant Choi's life was ruined. After spending four months in a juvenile detention center, he met a man who knew about his past, and they lived together in Cheorwon County, Gangwon Province, until the man found a job in Seoul and moved there. 

However, while working in a seedy brothel in Seoul with her friend, she was sexually exploited, virtually held captive in the owner's house, and her national ID card was forged and taken from her for 500,000 won. To add insult to injury, she was also subjected to human rights violations by the media, and while the people who had relationships with her during the broadcast were unknown to the public, she was the only one receiving attention. 

At the time of the investigation, she said she didn't want her past to be known, and the police tried to keep it as secret as possible, but journalists who found out about it reported it to the media, and the situation escalated. The incident temporarily damaged the image of the red muffler, but the South Korean Air Force, the owner of the term, continued to use it as a symbol for combat pilots, and eventually public perception returned to what it was before the incident. 

In fact, most people who hear the phrase "red muffler" naturally think of the air force anthem or the movie of the same name and are not even aware of the incident. Those who have served in the Air Force Reserves may know about the incident, but they still associate it with combat pilots and use the term in that sense. 

In a video posted to her YouTube channel in 2020, comedian Park Mi-Sun inserted the subtitle "red mufflers" into a scene in which she wears a red muffler around her neck, and then later removed the subtitle to show how bad the perception of the term has become.