A young sailor arrives in Busan Harbour; an outrageous-looking, woolly bear of a man appears in downtown Busan with a shotgun over one shoulder, a heavy knapsack thrown over the other; a tough-looking young woman joins her friend in robbing a naïve fat man in a suit. The strands of character and story will slowly converge, well after the audience, tuned to the coincidences and mistaken identities of melodrama, has recognised that these three have a shared history and are fated to meet and reconcile.

A man tries to raise his two sons and two daughters under some of the most adverse conditions known to man. The father operates a horse-drawn cart, but in a city that is modernizing after the destruction of the Korean War, automobiles are making carts obsolete. The children are experiencing difficulties as well. The eldest son has flunked the bar exam twice and is not hopeful of passing it a third time to become a lawyer. The eldest daughter is mute and married to an abusive husband. The younger daughter tries to pose as a rich university student to move up in life. The youngest son has a penchant for petty theft.

A middle-aged man is laid off from work but is too proud to tell his family. His children, however, learn of the situation and take jobs of their own to help him save face.