Welcome to Dongmakgol

The year is 1950 and the Korean Peninsula is being torn apart by the Korean War, which has just broken out. All across the country, fierce fighting has broken out, with North Korean forces battling the United States Army and the South Korean military. In a mountainous part of the country, a unit of North Korean soldiers is ambushed by Southern opponents, but three of them – led by Rhee Soo Hwa (Jung Jae Young) – escape through a rocky passage. They eventually stumble upon a free-spirited but mentally challenged young woman named Yeo Il (Kang Hye Jung). She takes them back to her village – a place named Dongmakgol. Dongmakgol is a place lost in the pages of time: It is a small and very remote, self-sustaining village that is blissfully unaware of the war raging in the rest of the country. The villagers don’t even understand what the soldiers’ rifles and grenades are. But also taking refuge in the village are two South Korean army deserters – Pyo Hyun Chul (Shin Ha Kyun) and Moon Sang Sang (Seo Jae Kyung). What will happen to the villagers – and their idyllic way of life – when these two groups of rival soldiers come face-to-face with their sworn enemies? “Welcome to Dongmakgol” is a 2005 South Korean movie that was directed by Park Kwang Hyun.