Escape

Plot

Near the Korean Demilitarized Zone, Sergeant Lim Gyu-nam of the Korean People's Army, who is about to be discharged after 10 years of service, prepares to defect from North Korea to South Korea, due to disillusionment with the regime. However, lower-ranking soldier Kim Dong-hyuk, who discovers Gyu-nam's plan, attempts to escape first, and Gyu-nam, who tries to stop him, is suddenly arrested as a deserter.

Major Li Hyeon-sang of the Ministry of State Security who came to the unit to investigate a deserter, turns Gyu-nam, whom he had known since childhood, into a hero for his efforts to apprehend a deserter, and gives him a position as a direct assistant to the division commander, assisting him with his life. However, when Gyu-nam makes a full-scale escape along with Dong-hyuk, Hyeon-sang begins a pursuit with no way to back down. As Gyu-nam and Dong-hyuk make their escape, Dong-hyuk is injured. With little hope of finishing the journey, Dong-Hyuk hands his sister's necklace to Gyu-nam and requests Gyu-nam give it to her just before he is shot by Major Li Hyeon. Major Li Hyeon is delayed in his pursuit as Gyu-nam crosses a mine field. As dawn breaks, Gyu-nam sees a squad of South Korean patrol troops. Realising that he is near to South Korea, he approaches them. However, he is stopped by Major Li, who holds Gyu-nam at gunpoint and says that life in South Korea is a failure. Gyu-nam declares he would rather fail every day in South Korea than be unable to fail in North Korea. The two fight, and Gyu-nam gains the advantage, before running towards a telephone and calling the South Korean soldiers of JSA, telling them about his wish to defect.