Synopsis

​

Jin-tae shines shoes in the streets of Jongno, hoping to save money to send his younger brother, Jin-seok to university, and get married with his fiancee Yeong-sin. One day in June, extras saying a war had started fly about in the streets, and Seoul which had been so peaceful, is suddenly filled with the sounds of sirens and screams. Jin-tae decides to escape to the south and his family joins the mass of people trying to get away. At the Daegu Station they get entangled in the great whirlwind of history. Jin-seok, who is over 18, is forced to board the train for conscripts. Jin-tae jumps on the train to bring him back, but he himself is forced to stay on the train too. Without ever getting any proper training, the two are sent to Nakdong River, the last frontline. Jin-tae goes to see the battalion commander to cancel Jin-seok’s recruitment. In his meeting with the commander, he understands what he has to do to send his brother back home. He starts on his dangerous mission to become the war hero. The Korean army succeeds in defending the Nakdong River frontline thanks to Jin-tae’s exploits. When they hear news that the Incheon landing operation was successful, Jin-tae’s battalion heads north. Jin-tae, who has no sense of patriotism or notion of democracy, was turning into a war hero just to save his younger brother, while Jin-seok realizes that if he was to survive the war, he had to become stronger. They head for Pyeongyang, where an unexpected fate awaits them.