The story takes place on a mountain slope where defectors from North Korea live. These families sell cheap things such as socks and pens to make a living and there is a serious gap between the parents and their children. A widower Kim Deok-sam nags his son Geo-buk to join the American army. Ok-Mae who lives next door teaches her daughter Bok-soon traditional Korean folksongs and forces her to become a gisaeng.

The film exposes the atrocities of war through the eyes of two children who are stranded in the DMZ after the end of the Korean War. The DMZ, strewn with abandoned tanks, dead bodies, land mines, and unexploded shells, is an exceedingly dangerous place for children. But what most endangers them in the end are not weapons but people.