North Korean defector Seung-chul is a refugee living on the harsh edges of Seoul. Bewildered by exploitative employers and cynical urbanites, he’s no good for business. A powerful realism underscores this prize-winning feature debut about the struggle to survive in a strange new world.
Park Jung-bumSeung-chul
Jin Yong-ukKyung-chul
Kang Eun-jinSook-young
Caught in forbidden love, Yong Joon defects from North Korea, leaving Jae Sung behind. Years later, a reunion forces him to choose between past and present.
In a small North Korean village near the border of China, there are believers who get together in an underground church, away from the eyes of the persecuting government. When the missionary from China, their only support route, is cut off, things begin to get very tense. Chulho, who had been arrested along with his wife, returns. After losing his wife in the interrogations, Chulho had been released and unseen for 2 years before coming back to his home, claiming that he had been commanded by God to lead the believers across the border and into South Korea. The brothers wonder if Chulho is trustworthy, and whether it is the right thing to do to leave their homeland.
Hyesun is a young North Korean refugee who has just arrived in fast-paced, hyper-modern South Korea. As she struggles to adapt to her new life, Hyesun must confront the emotional toll of leaving her past behind while trying to carve out a place for herself in a society permeated by high performance and dire expectations.
Yong-soo is an ex-soccer player who lives in a small coal-mine village in North Korea with his wife and young son, Joon. Although living in extreme poverty like many other families in North Korea, the family is happy just to be with each other. Then one day, Yong-soo's pregnant wife becomes critically ill. Let alone medicine, Yong-soo can't even find food for her in North Korea. So he decides to secretly cross the border to China hoping to find the medicine for his wife.
Ji-woo, an outcast at a prestigious private school, meets Hak-sung, the school janitor who is actually a mathematical genius who defected from North Korea.
Poongsan has the unenviable - and death-defying - job of delivering messages across the North and South Korean border to separated families. When South Korean government agents ask him to smuggle in In-ok, the lover of a high-ranking North Korean defector, into the South, the damsel and rescuer fall in love instead.
North Korean Refugee Eunseo has been living in South Korea for 20 years. Now she is almost South Korean. No one knows she came from North Korea. Then her mother, who has been out of contact, comes to South Korea, and gets to live with her. People get to know that Eunseo came from North Korea, and Eunseo starts to feel uncomfortable with her mother.
Stateless Things crosscuts between the lives of two young men, one an illegal immigrant from North Korea stuck in dead-end jobs, the other the kept boy of a married businessman stifling in a swanky apartment.
Despite the close bonds among fellow defectors, Cheol-jun—a young North Korean defector—felt isolated while hiding his gay identity. Finally, he takes his first step into South Korea's vibrant gay community and forms close ties after meeting Yeong-jun at a casual gathering. Yet, a trivial misunderstanding shatters these fragile bonds.
Chang-ho, 12, becomes friends with a North-Korean immigrant about the same age who just crossed the Dooman river, border between North-Korea and China. His mute sister and his wise grandfather accompany him through a series of misfortunes.
Sul-ji, exiled from North Korea 2 years ago, is cheerful lady who is working at flower shop. Using her experience that drew propaganda paintings in North Korea, she draws wall-painting for part-timer. Desperate Broadcast producer Shin-woong, discovers her and trying to make hit documentary about her, but she hesitates minding her families still in North. Eventually she decides to go in under the condition that she hides her identity.
After defecting from North Korea, Loh Kiwan struggles to obtain refugee status in Belgium, where he encounters a dejected woman who has lost all hope.
A North Korean refugee, Jung-Nim, is trying to find a new life in South Korea, with people suspecting that she is a spy.
After losing her son while defecting from North Korea, Myung-sun meets a fellow defector, Sin-tek, who is the leader of the Church of the Fire. Through him, Myung-sun begins to learn about the doctrines of resurrection as they settle at a small town in South Korea.
After a few months of social adjustment training, the North Korean refugee Jina moves to a small studio in Seoul and starts her new life. To bring her father to South Korea, she needs money but no matter how hard she works, the discrimination doesn’t let her save enough money.
At the request of his dying father, Zhenchen, a Chinese student, goes to Seoul in search of his mother, whom he has not seen for fourteen years. He soon discovers that she is working as a hostess in a bar…
Making use of her Chinese that she had picked up while living in China, Han-young obtains her tour guide-interpreter's license and starts working as a guide in Korea. She gets used to her new surroundings and gains good results at work. However, she is forced to face challenges and changes as she loses touch with her brother In-hyuk, and the number of Chinese tourists decreases due to political tension between Korean and China.
Ap-lok river flows between North Korea and China. A point along the river runs about 48 meters. There, North Koreans risk their lives by trying to cross the river. Real stories of those people who attempt to cross the river are told.