Synopsis

Returning from the Vietnam War, Chang-su, a street cleaner, runs into Young-ja at a police station. Three years earlier, Chang-su, who worked at an iron foundry, had fallen in love with Young-ja, a housemaid, and proposed to her before being deployed to Vietnam. During his absence, Young-ja is sexually exploited by her employer's son and is cast out. She then works at a bar, becomes a bus conductor, but tragically loses one of her arms in a traffic accident and ends up working as a prostitute. Chang-su tries to rescue her from this life, but she decides to leave him so as not to burden his future. Years later, Chang-su finds Young-ja living happily with her new husband. He wishes her well and quietly walks away.

Director

• 
  • Kim Ho-sun
  • Born in 1941 in Bukcheong, Hamgyeongbuk-do (now in North Korea), Kim Ho-sun graduated from Sungkyunkwan University with a degree in Korean Literature. He began his career as an assistant director under Yu Hyun-mok and made his directorial debut with Phantom Woman (1974). He rose to fame with back-to-back hits Yeong-ja’s Heyday and Winter Woman, becoming one of Chungmuro’s most commercially successful directors of the time. His later films, including Three Times Short, Three Times Long, Seoul Rainbow, and Ode to Death, also displayed sharp insight into contemporary social issues and political satire.