Plot[edit]
The film begins when two North Korean soldiers are killed in the DMZ at a North Korean border house, before Sergeant Lee Soo-hyeok (Lee Byung-hun), a South Korean soldier on border duties, attempts to flee back to the South Korean side. The southern troops rescue him while the gunfire erupts and, two days later, the fragile relationship between the two Koreas now relies on a special investigation conducted by Swiss Army Major Sophie E. Jean (Lee Young-ae) on behalf of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission.
As Sergeant Lee Soo-hyeok has confessed to the shootings, Sophie investigates why the two Koreas have contradicting accounts of events; Soo-hyeok's states he was knocked out and kidnapped while relieving himself and, waking tied up in the North Korean border house, secretly freed himself and shot three North Korean soldiers, leaving two dead. However, when asking the North Korean survivor, Sergeant Oh Kyeong-pil (Song Kang-ho), he states Soo-Hyeok barged into the border house and shot everyone before retreating when the wounded Kyeong-pil returned fire.
The autopsy report shows that one soldier, Jeong Woo-jin (Shin Ha-kyun), was shot eight times repeatedly, indicating a grudge was held; additionally, a single bullet is not accounted for. Over the course of the investigation, witness Private First Class Nam Sung-shik (Kim Tae-woo) attempts suicide by jumping out of the window of the interrogation room, and Sophie deduces that he, along with the surviving soldiers and Woo-jin, held a mutual friendship.
Explained through flashbacks it is shown that Soo-hyeok was on patrol with other soldiers, only to get lost on the North Korean side and to partially trip a mine; found by Kyeong-pil and Woo-jin, the two deactivate the mine, which later prompts Soo-hyeok to throw written messages over the border to maintain contact. Eventually inviting Soo-hyeok across the border, the three become a group of friends that soon includes Sung-shik, with the four agreeing to leave politics out of their friendship so to remain loyal to their own country.
As tensions rise between the North and South, Soo-hyeok and Sung-shik return to the North to say goodbye and celebrate Woo-jin's birthday, only to be discovered by a commanding officer from the North and resulting in a Mexican Standoff. Despite Woo-jin panicking and betraying his friends, Kyeong-pil convinces Woo-jin, Soo-hyeok and the officer to lower their weapons, only for Sung-shik to panic and shoot the commanding officer when he reaches for his radio; when Woo-jin draws his gun again, Sung-shik kills him, before shooting his corpse several times out of anger. Kyeong-pil persuades Sung-shik to lay down the gun and for the two to flee with a false alibi of being kidnapped, before throwing away the evidence that he and Woo-jin were fraternizing with Southern soldiers. After shooting Kyeong-pil to complete his alibi, Sung-shik and Soo-hyeok flee across the border, with the former getting past unseen; since Soo-hyeok has a wounded leg from the firefight, he is the only soldier seen.
Sophie, now discharged as her father was discovered to have North Korean ties during Korean War and thus making her non-neutral, unofficially confirms events with Kyeong-pil and then Soo-hyeok; she finds that the missing bullet was lodged in the evidence thrown away by Kyeong-pil, but cannot figure out who really shot Woo-jin due to a remaining inconsistency in their stories. Sophie hugs Soo-hyeok and wishes him well, only for Soo-hyeok to steal an officer's pistol before committing suicide. It is revealed Soo-hyeok shot Woo-jin, and he committed suicide out of guilt for Woo-jin's death and Sung-shik's suicide attempt. The film concludes with a photograph of the joint security area that accidentally contains all four soldiers.
Cast[edit]
- Lee Young-ae as
Major Sophie E. Jean
- Lee Byung-hun as
Sergeant Lee Soo-hyeok (Korean: 이수혁)
- Song Kang-ho as
Sergeant Oh Kyung-pil (Korean: 오경필)
- Kim Tae-woo as
- Shin Ha-kyun as
- Herbert Ulrich as
Captain Persson
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