In this melodrama, a man in a village in Jirisan hides a Communist soldier who has sneaked into the area. A widow, finding the soldier in the bamboo grove, visits him and carries on a sexual relationship with him. When she discovers she is pregnant, she commits suicide. When the villagers burn the woods to drive out remaining Communist guerillas, the man who has hidden the soldier perishes in an attempt to rescue him. It is also based on a novel.
In a remote village called Seokjeongni, the residents manage to learn that North Korean troops have invaded the South via the chief’s radio. Normalcy nevertheless continues for the villagers, who are all preoccupied with more pressing matters: an arranged wedding. Just a few days before the ceremony the groom is forced to flee when news breaks that Northern troops are fast capturing cities and annihilating anticommunist activists. But Seol-hee (Jung Ryeo-won) has no time to brood over her missing, beloved husband-to-be. North Korean troops arrive in town and announce their holy mission to "liberate" the Southerners.
Kiju Han, a journalist, must face his memories of Vietnam as he writes a series of articles on the subject for his local newspaper. The articles attract a fellow veteran, Chinsu Pyon, who begins randomly appearing in Han's life. The film, through a series of flashbacks, depicts both the events in Vietnam and their aftermath in the lives of these two soldiers.
The movie starts out with a meeting between the rulers of Baekje, Silla, Tang China, and Goguryeo. They are arguing why the Korean southern kingdoms have to pay tribute to China, even though Tang is only 50 years old. The king of Silla sides with the Emperor of Tang. The movie flashes forward to the scene in which Baekje soldiers rush to the king with ill news of Silla and Tang allying together, bringing an army of 50,000 soldiers. The Baekje council discusses battle plans. But in the end, all of the officials run away out of cowardice. The king of Baekje calls for the great warrior, Kyebaek. He accepts the offer to protect his country after three glasses of wine. Kaebaek is forced to kill his family in fear of something worse happening to them. Soon, Gyebaek engages the Silla forces in so called "battles" where the opponents insult the others with Gyebaek winning in the beginning of these battles.