Huh... It's cold...
so cold that I can no longer stand it! I'm going into the house.
No, you shouldn't!
You should keep this place until the platoon leader comes back!
Yellow dogs or black dogs, whatever they are they just don't move, fearing us.
How can we stand here all night in this cold air?
Comrade Jeon! Let's drink just a little.
What are you doing now?
I'm drinking a liquor. Anything wrong?
You'll be scolded.
I don't care! My cheeks are flushed with wine.
Hey, Comrade Kang! Come here come here quick!
I came into this mountain as I was forced by our time
to make only one choice... either a rightist to leftist stand.
If this war is waged to make mankind live the life worthy of men,
I'll be glad to offer my life.
But I deplore that the inhumane situation in which men and men, fellow countrymen in particular,
must kill each other, is aimed at attaining humanistic future oh, what a contradiction!
Such mental complications will only reduce the will to fight.
You have had enough!
Don't be afraid! Come on, have a drink!
You like it, don't you?
Well... I bottomed up.
I'll fire only to live. I'll only to survive.
I know you'll not tolerate being discarded
as a worthless existence.
But if a great history is to be born from the muzzle of our guns,
our act would be worth offering our lives. Don't you agree?
Well, this war is so complicated that I can hardly have such a belief.
Comrade Kim! You look a little strange since Cho Young-ja was transferred, red to Head, quarters.
Who said so?
Who said that I only cleaned horse dung in the cavalry unit?
You mean... you really fought riding on a horse?
That's right! You'd better believe it.
When I worked in a tailor's shop in Seoul, I rode all the female workers.
Whom am I? I am Mah Dal-ho, the very manly Mah Dal-ho.
You mean Comrade Cho Young-ja?
She was a young lover of literature who grew up as a daring daughter of a landlord
One day she read my poem, and began to follow me.
As I came to the mountain, she just followed me.
She is too young and too naive to make ideological armament.
What is so valuable for her as to offer her life?
I had a good time yes good time indeed
Aren't we fighting to have such a good time again?
Yeh, you're right. You are young, but your way of thinking seems to be that of my elder brother.
Who is this?
What's the pass word!
Sumjin river!"
Who is damn "Sumjin river"?
This must be from the Sagisil direction.
Yes. It looks like it.
Comrade Jeon! You!
Hey, you, Comrade Jeon!
Chief! I have got a blow!
Everything is over. Thank you, chief!
Rascals drank all the liquor!
It's a reactionary's house.
This is the liberated area.
You were the only one who informed
the yellow dogs after we moved out.
Confess!
You informed them, didn't you?
Platoon leader! Take this reactionary girl to the village yard
and gather all villagers.
Yes. Let's all get out!
Your husband was a police man but still alive in our liberated area.
You tried to collect some intelligence, didn't you?
Your husband died some time ago... why?
He was killed by you! Yes, by your clique!
That's what made you act as a spy.
To avenge the death of my husband
Go away!
That child's mother killed herself by biting her tongue. Anything to say?
Raise your head!
Long live the People's Republic!
Clap your hands!
Applaud death of Comrade Hwang who committed a disgraceful act
on the national liberation front of our courageous partisans!
Clap your hands!
All are leaving.
What's your relationship with Comrade Pak Min-ja, the nurse?
I only received medical care as a patient...
You are all cowards!
What do you mean by "You and I share a different destiny..."?
That's a phrase from Byron's poem.
Who is Byron? Isn't he a reactionary writer?
He is not a Bolshevik, but...
Well, that's alright. You've been relatively faithful to your duty.
But this question may be rather serious according to each one's standpoint.
Under present circumstances and at this time, it is serious to indulge in love affairs.
It is an erroneous act against the nation and the people. Anything to say?
No.
- You mean, You accept my words. - Yes.
Pack up! You've been summoned by Headquarters.
You don't have to worry because this is not for the note.
Seems that the communications section in the provincial party headquarters requested your summon.
A liaison man is already here from Mt' Hoemun.
As the executed Comrade Hwang pointed out, you have weak-hearted
sentimentalist nature. You'd better to discard it promptly,
then you'll be an excellent warrior in every aspect.
I understand.
Platoon leader! If you meet Comrade Cho Young-ja in the Headquarters, please...
I wrote a few words, trusting you would understand me.
You rascals... no matter how deeply you may hide in the winter, I won't miss you!
Where were those female comrades who were selected from each brigade last time, transferred to?
Perhaps they are assigned to the New company composed of women...
You mean, to the Headquarters?
No. That company is a combat unit so it cannot remain in the rear.
If you have any message to convey I'll pass on when I get there,
except a letter.
Oh, no. How about the hospital unit?
It�ll take all night to get the female company or hospital unit.
Well, I want to have one more...
HQ of North Cholla Provincial Party Partisans in Mt. Hoemun, Sunchang County
Your way must be painstaking...
I like you to meet our new Comrade Min.
How are you? I now see the genuine partisan after a long time.
What are you doing here?
We called in comrade section chief precisely for this.
This is a complete code!
All these communications were made possible through my own efforts."
Didn't you see the water generator at the riverside? That's my skill.
How could you decode this so easily?
Well, I'm not sure if it's right.
People's Army and Chinese Communist Army advanced to Chechon.
The situation has changed with intervention of the Chinese communist army.
Headquarters was in a peaceful atmosphere.
A news bulletin informing of war situation was published.
This was the most luxurious period since I came into the mountain.
Yet, I had no sufficient time to visit Min-ja
nor could I go to female company to convey
the letter asked by Comrade Kim Young.
Indeed, I missed... members of the 2nd platoon
including Kim Young and Pak Min-ja. However...
March 1951
It's a retreat!
- Where Shall we go? - We'll assemble at Daesumal yard.
All units of the provincial party are going to withdraw with Headquarters tonight.
Dividing all forces into two, one will go to the direction of Mt. Sobaek
and the other to the Byonsan peninsula.
How about us?
We'll head for Mt. Sobaek as the Headquarters go to that direction.
Comrade branch chief! Branch chief!
Which way is the hospital unit do you know?
Hospital unit? It�ll be divided into two
because both sides will have wounded soldiers. Let's go!
Say, is this the hospital unit?
Is this the hospital unit?
Do you know a nurse named Pak Min-ja?
Comrade Pak, Is heading for Byonsan.
Which side is she on now?
Go to that direction! They left a few minutes ago.
Which way is the hospital unit?
Over there in the back.
Is this...
- Where is the hospital unit? - I don't know.
Is this the hospital unit?
Hospital unit? No.
I was not able to meet Pak Min-ja.
I had to advance to the North along the ranges of Mt. Sobaak
following the North Cholla party unit with some 400 members.
On the frontlines, the United Forces were
also advancing toward the 38th parallel.
Mt. Baekun Hamyang County, South Kyongsang Province, May 1951
Dark clouds were drawing near.
A fearful infectious disease called "relapsing fever"
which began in a unit swept over all the units of North Cholla Province.
This disease caused a high fever repeatedly and was accompanied by severe pains and serious sequels.
Since we had no medical means to deal with disease,
we had to suffer a number of victims.
Is this tree known to be good for the infectious disease?
Yes, they say so.
Comrade Kim Young!
Platoon leader!
Oh, the letter.
I was so busy with the work of communications center after I arrived at the Headquarters
that I couldn't even touch it,
and lost it at last.
Didn't you have any news?
No, not at all.
Some people said she was killed when she was fleeing from Headquarters in Mt. Hoemun
while others say she went to the west...
all my fault.
Do you have a pencil?
No, I don't.
What's that fountain pen?
Oh this? I couldn't get any ink.
Why don't you throw it away if you can't use it.
No, that's impossible.
Comrade Song, what made you come here?
You know Pak Min-ja who went to the west.
I just returned from the west.
Knowing that I am a liaison man from Headquarters,
she came to see me and inquired about you.
So?
So, I told her that you were suffering from a fever. Then she gave this to me,
asking me to give it to you.
Isn't it Aspirin? I envy you.
Well, I'm going back. Anything to convey?
I will send her
Well, good bye!
Say, Comrade!
Haven't you met a girl named Cho Young-ja in Byonsan?
She is small and slim...
Cho Young-ja? No, I haven't seen her.
Her nickname was "white lily".
If you have any chance to go to Byonsan,
please try to find "white lily" and give this to her.
Isn't this a letter? Our rule prohibits delivery of letter.
I'll certainly pass on your words. Well, good bye. Take care.
You, Comrades! The chairman is coming!
They came here with the mission of reassigning the soldiers at the directive of Comrade Lee Hyun-Sang,
Commander of the Nambugun of the Korean People's Army guerrilla forces.
I want you to follow the order of those comrades.
Those who're recovering health, please come forward voluntarily!
If you go to Nambugun, you'll have better food.
Comrade Kim and I were fascinated by the guide's remarks that if we go to Nambugun,
we'll have better and more sufficient food,
although we had not completely recovered.
Mt. Dokyu, June 1951
I know you came a long, tough way.
I'm Kim Heung-bok, commander of "Victory Division".
You'll be enlisted into our unit as plain soldiers regardless of
your previous positions and career in the Chonbuk unit.
The goal of our struggle in not only to secure more liberated areas
but also to induce as many enemies as possible into our side...
so as to make the People's Army in the frontline have more a favorable situation by building a second frontline.
Therefore, we'll constantly move and harass the enemy!
You'll know that the this unit is not by name.
Cadre members! You take the lead of each unit.
First line, Taegu unit! Second line, Seoul unit!
Third line, Cheonju unit! Fourth line, Yosu unit!
Go get the supply of weapons and clothes!
Platoon leader, how shabby are you!
In the old days, a man with a thick beard was called
a heroic man
but nowadays, a genuine soldier should look clean and neat, like a bridegroom.
You had a hard time with that damn fever, I suppose.
Yet, you should not look as shabby as this!
Aren't you from Cheonju?
I remember you!
You were a representative of Chonwon country at a speech contest!
Yes, I was. Now you remember me... I'm glad to meet you!
It's first time for me to meet a friend from my native hometown since I came into Nambugun.
Assemble!
It's accidental firing! Accidental firing!
You stupid!
You must capture 200 bullets to pay for that accidental firing!
I wonder if he can properly take care of his own balls...
If you were close to the enemy's position, you would have been executed on the spot!
Leaving Mt. Dogyu, the "Victory Division" of Nambugun continued its march and combat one after another...
and constantly moved to another place.
The might of Nambugun was indeed as powerful as I heard.
And this might was shown in such action as raiding the police strongholds in broad daylight.
The soldiers' fighting spirit was also high.
Look! That's is(moon-rising) village.
We'll soon be arriving in Mt. Chiri.
Start! Our leader used to tell us
about Mt. Chiri as a stronghold
for the South Korean revolution.
We may be able to see commander Lee Hyun-Sang
if all the Nambugun units assemble.
That's a dream!
Let's get started!
It's a long time since we took a bath, isn't it?
Yes... so long time that I can't even remember.
What a spectacle!
Leader!
It was the first moment for me to see Lee Hyun-Sang,
the legendary commander of South Korean's partisan forces.
Lee Hyun-Sang was a hard-core communist who became a partisan
when the South Korean Labor Party effaced itself as a clandestine organization,
making the most of his experience during the period of anti-Japanese independence movement...
he was a nationalist,
and a lonely fighter who was dreaming of South Korean revolution while adhering to
the political tradition of the South Korean Labor Party declining to go to the North Korea.
Camping out for a night in Ungsok Hill Mt. Chiri,
we decided to smash, joining forces with Kyongnam units,
the police garrison in Doksan, Sinchon and Simjang
who were blocking the way out to the South of Mt. Chiri.
Let's launch a attack when it gets dark!
Enemy!
Enemy appeared in front of wire-entanglements! Flare bomb! Flare bomb!
Seems that they are more than we can handle.
We must do something! Let's destroy the garrison by firing a few rounds of 81-mm mortar!
Well... civilian houses are so close to it...
We could make only two holes in the iron fence in the 5-hour long combat.
Our "Victory Division" has no previous instance of being outstripped by others like this!
This affects the morale of all.
How about firing trench mortar at the enemy side after evacuating all the residents
from the garrison area?
Rascals are now quiet after having a hell of a time.
But they won't give up so easily. Don't you think?
Flare bomb! Flare bomb!
Comrade Choe and I will take care of this garrison!
Comrades! You carry out your own mission!
Be careful! Don't hurt civilians when you evacuate them.
Comrade Choe, keep firing!
Hey, you guys, don't be surprised. Hide yourself when shells fly overhead.
I'm sorry... let me use your quilt.
Comrade Choe!
Come quickly!
Get this!
Come out! Hurry up!
- Ready fire! - Yes.
Fire!
A few members including Comrade Kim Hui-suk who was wounded in the fighting that day
and political member Lee Bong-gak headed for a patients' shelter in Korimgol for medical care.
I was also suffering from beriberi, and accompanied them
as an attendant to take care of the patients.
Well, well... you were lucky enough to get hurt only in the leg.
You can never get married if the bullet passed through this way even a little...
You, damn, son of bitch!
Your face is beautiful like a flower but your mouth is rough!
Yet I smell a luscious scent from you.
Your ideological outlook is corrupt!
Ideological outlook?
Well, well, don't you know that I am
a genuine working-class man retaining the basic outlook?
So, you have the basic outlook. Then, why do you always talk about women and drinks?
Well, your remark is unreasonable. Do you dislike a woman?
No man dislikes liquor and woman.
Why didn't you say so when Comrade political member way here?
Do you think I can't if he is here?
What are you talking about, Comrade Joo?
Yes... since you have not given us any order all day long today, I...
I see. I guess Comrade Pak recovered to a satisfactory extent.
Be ready to return to your unit.
Yes.
Well, something serious could have happened!
I sympathize with you, Comrade Lee.
How would you feel if you saw your lady working only in the kitchen?
I don't have to worry about as I am not married.
Seems that I am the only one who worries about you.
That boy is always playing a "Cherry"
The girl he was in love with must have run away to Seoul, becoming fickle.
Well, love affair is unfit for such a young boy!
Then, do you know about love?
Have I had any time to make love?
My father was beaten to death by the Youth group during the riot incident
and my mother way confined to bed being labeled as the Red's wife.
Feeling indignation against them. I came into this mountain
with a firm determination for revenge, discarding my mother in bed.
But I was a little impatient.
When I see the "yellow dogs" or "black dogs" whether they are alive or dead,
I feel like they are the enemy of my father and brother and to blow out their brains.
After staying in the patients' shelter for about 3 weeks we, the recovered patients,
embarked on the road returning to our unit guided by liaison member from Division headquarters.
People say that you and I will be awarded with medals when we return
to our unit for the good fight in the recent combat.
Stop that silly talk!
It's true
The political member said so.
Isn't it true, Comrade political member? We, two, will get the medal, won't we?
Comrade Lee!
How about working in the political section when you return?
How can I dare you?
Yes, it's a loss for our unit to leave you as a plain,
lowest fighter.
All of Nambugun units have assembled in the Piagol Valley late September.
A ceremony of awarding medal personally by commander Lee Hyun-sang was held there. Piagol Valley in Mt. Chiri
A ceremony of awarding medal personally by commander Lee Hyun-sang was held there.
Citations and medals were awarded to those who fought as suicide squad members.
Comrade Kim Hui-suk was promoted to battalion commander.
A great festival was held that night.
Comrade, I want to meet Comrade Lee whom I mentioned earlier.
They are members of the political section you'll work with.
This is the indoctrination guide. This is Comrade Pak Hyung-kyu.
Welcome!
This is the operational guide. This is Comrade Yang Ji-ha.
I'm glad to meet you.
This is the civilian affairs guide. Comrade Lee Dong-kyu!
Nice to meet you!
This is Comrade Choe Mun-hui, guide of cultural affairs.
Glad to meet you.
Well, now you became a member of out great Korean Worker's Party!
From today, you will work in our political section as a responsible person for editing our unit newspaper,
Victorious Road of Mt. Chiri and our war history.
Since Autumn of the year, the Nambugun carried out various offensive operations including surprise attack on Goksong and destruction of Cholla railroad.
But with the beginning of a large-scale counterattack by the punitive forces,
we roamed about the northeast area of Mt. Chiri while searching around two provinces of Kyongsang and Cholla.
As the winter approached, Nambugun settled in Hakdong Valley.
The Armistice talks that again in Kaesong were moved to Panmunjom.
On 27 November, the talks made a progress to agree on the provisional contact line between the two sides on 27 November.
It appeared that notable progress was made in the Armistice talks.
You mean... Armistice talks or cease-fire talks?
It doesn't make any difference. The question is how we,
the partisans, will be treated after the Armistice agreement is signed.
That's clear enough. Under international law we are a justifiable combat unit organized
by the supreme commander of the Korean People's Army the very one side engaged in the war.
Thus, we will be repatriated to the North as soon as the Armistice is concluded.
You mean, we'll be treated as brilliant heroes of the Republic amid thunderous welcome and cheers by the people?
Sounds like a dream...
What if our guerrilla units will be treated as a criminal organization instead of a regular army?
That's unreasonable.
I'm sure the Republic will demand our safe repatriation during the Armistice negotiations.
Stop arguing! At this point, the Armistice means only an illicit union between the North and the South of Korea.
We should reject either Armistice or cease-fire for national reunification
and people's liberation.
Comrade Lee, it's time to relieve the patrol team. It's terribly cold.
I was frozen during patrol.
There are many rumors about the Armistice talks, large-scale winter offensive
by the South Korean army and so forth.
According to progress made in the Armistice talks,
both sides will wage a desperate struggle to secure
even an inch more of lands along the Armistice line,
and we should make the People's Army fight in a more favorable situation
by dragging the enemy troops into Mt. Chiri
from the main frontline to the maximum extent.
In other words, we carry out the role of division
by talking hold of the troops of one enemy division
and that of corps by talking hold of one enemy corps troops.
At this point, our Nambugun's mobile division decided to raid
nearby major strongholds in cooperation with 57th Kyongnam Division
in order to strengthen the second frontline and secure the winter materials.
Comrade, you write a manifesto to read for all troops
before they set out for assault.
I hope you will write an impressive and inspiring manifesto.
Even if our Nambugun's 300 troops are completely destroyed,