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 Duk-sam (Kim Seung-ho) nags his son Geo-buk (Shin Seong-il) to join the American army. Hwang Jung-soon who lives next door teaches her daughter Bok-soon (Um Aing-ran) traditional Korean folksongs and forces her to become a giseng (Korean geisha)