Road Number One
Final Episode 20
This program has received production support from Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA)
This drama spans the first year of the Korean War,
which broke out on June 25, 1950, and raged for three years.
Most of the events of the Korean War have been dramatically recreated,
and do not reflect any actual individuals or troops.
June 6, 1951
A year after the breakout of war, the 2nd Company heads back to Yeongchon.
After being pressed to the edge of Nak Dong River for two months,
they marched north for three months toward Ap Rok River.
It had been a long year,
that included three months of battling the Chinese army...
with numerous casualties.
But the 2nd Company returns to the place where it all began...
He'll be all right, won't he? He won't die like this?
He's like my own brother to me.
Please save his life, Doctor.
Don't worry. That's why I'm here.
Bear it for just a little bit.
Hold on. Hold on a little longer.
Captain, do you think they'll be all right?
You know Su Yeon is the strongest...
when tending to dying patients.
Let's trust her. We have our own work to do here.
We have to defend Yeongchon.
You'll keep your promise, won't you?
Yes.
Put that right over here.
We've finished the installation.
Good job. We will take responsibility for this place from now on.
Until the Level 1 alert is lifted, we'll stand guard here with you.
Finish connecting the detonators and be on standby!
- Yes, sir! - Yes, sir!
Don't worry. Our kids are skilled with their hands.
It will go off the moment the order is received.
I hope I won't have to witness that skill.
What's happening?
We're almost done. You're enduring it well.
You just have to endure this.
Endure it just little more.
It's Captain Hwang, the operation leader.
This is Black Kite, answer.
The Chinese troops are advancing toward the Yeongchon Bridge.
Be on heightened guard and do not let the Chinese army cross the bridge. Over.
I'll take a few men and go find them.
Lieutenant Shin…
I'll go.
Captain.
My woman and my child are up there.
I have to be the one to go.
If the bridge has to be blown up,
you're the only one qualified to do it.
I put Yeongchon bridge...
in your care.
We'll wait for you.
Su Yeon!
Captain!
Su Yeon, hurry and get up.
The Chinese army is heading this way.
Just another minute. I'm almost finished.
No. We have to go now.
Hold on a bit longer.
Let's go.
Let's go!
I'll carry him.
Please stop it already.
We received our orders.
We are to detonate the instant the enemy army is within sight.
Don't worry. We'll make sure there's no damage to our soldiers.
Where is the Captain?
We must withdraw our troops from the bridge.
The Captain is… on the north side of the bridge.
- What did you say? - But he'll come right back.
Please wait until he does.
Please.
Fine.
But we can't wait long.
Su Yeon.
Su Yeon!
I'll take him.
Come on, let's go.
Come on! Let's go! Come on!
We're almost there.
Let's get going! How can this animal be so slow?
Come! Come!
Come on! Come!
Come on!
Captain, I think I need to put him on my back and run.
What's wrong with my ankle just when we're in a hurry?
I must have twisted it!
Put him on my back!
No… Captain, I can do it! I can carry him!
Put him on my back.
Park Dal Mun! Run to the bridge!
That's an order! Hurry!
Captain.
Jang Woo.
It's not too far. You go on.
No. I'm staying with you.
I'll be right behind you.
Go ahead with Il Nam.
Hurry.
You have to hurry.
Man Yong, let's go.
Lieutenant Shin.
I think something happened. Something must have gone wrong.
But if you go, then what about here…
Try to delay blowing up the bridge as long as possible, got it?
Platoon Leader!
The Army Corp of Engineers said they're blowing up the bridge now!
No! You can't. Please wait a little longer.
Are you trying to kill us all? We can't wait.
Everyone retreat to the 2nd line!
We're going to detonate right now!
From the sound, it seems like we can wait another three minutes.
Please trust me.
And then what if they get on the bridge?
What if we fail at this mission? Can you take responsibility for it?
Then one minute. Please wait just one minute.
Can't you hear them coming? Even a second is precious…
Stop, you bastard!
Are you crazy?
Yes, I am crazy.
Until the Captain returns, we can't blow up the bridge!
Our Captain is over there…
he's over there.
Platoon Leader!
- Platoon Leader! - Platoon Leader!
Please...
have him come back.
What should we do?
What do you mean? We'll detonate as planned.
Yes, sir.
What are you doing?
We're sorry. Unless we permit it, you can't blow up this bridge.
What are you talking about, you bastard?
Please wait a bit longer.
Please.
Yes. Our Captain will be here any minute.
He has a patient with him.
You bastards…
Hey, Platoon Leader, why are you just standing there?
Take these guys away from me!
Just a little bit… can't you wait just a little bit?
Move.
If you don't, you all be court-martialed.
Whether we die here or are court-martialed, it's all the same.
We can't let you do this until our Captain returns.
Without our Captain, we're as good as dead.
What's wrong with you guys?
Platoon Leader! Why are you just watching?!
I'm sorry. I'm also a part of this Company.
Jo In Jae, go back.
I'm going to disobey your order.
What?
Aren't you also disobeying an order?
The water upstream has to be clean for it to be clean downstream.
What? Even the medic is here.
All of you go back.
We know what you're feeling.
Our reason for being here is the same as yours.
Are you crazy, Lieutenant Kim?
You're an officer and you go along with your underlings, instead of trying to stop them?
That hurts my feelings.
I was a part of Company 2 before I ever became a lieutenant.
I can stay here by myself.
When the Captain is away,
isn't it only natural for his men to stand on lookout for him?
There is no single sane person in this company.
Yes.
That's all learned behavior from our Captain and the Lieutenant.
What, you punk?
You'll be doing laps later.
You'll be running until your stomach acid comes up in your throat.
Do you understand?!
- Yes, sir! - Yes sir!
Should we keep waiting?
Of course.
What else can we do?
It's not just one or two over there. If we blow them all up,
we won't hear the end of it.
We'll wait as long as we can.
Damn…
Please calm yourself.
Look over there! Wouldn't you be pissed?
Their chain of command is a mess, and I can't believe they call themselves soldiers.
Why don't we have that same spirit of brotherhood?
That's what pisses me off.
When this war is over, what are you guys going to do?
I want to work in an electronics shop. I can take apart and fix anything.
I'm going to do what I always did… birthing calves.
What about you, Sergeant Lee?
Work at an automotive shop.
I'm going to work twice as hard, on behalf of Bok Soo.
The first thing I'm going to do is go to Pyeongyang,
and tidy up my sister's grave.
I'm going to stay here and farm.
This place feels like home to me now.
Yes.
I'm sure all your plans will work out as you hope.
What about you?
I'm going to become a soldier.
Pardon?
You're a soldier already, so what do you mean?
There's a soldier I want to be like.
Two, actually.
I'm far from it.
Let's make a bet, then.
To see if our Lieutenant gets a star on his helmet or not?
How can that be a fair bet?
He's a natural born Captain.
Please come.
Please...
One,
two,
three…
Where's the Captain? And Go Man Yong?
They'll be right here. Jang Woo told us to run.
The bridge is about to blow up.
Hurry over there. Hurry.
Company 2, withdraw ! Withdraw!
Su Yeon!
Shin Tae Ho! Get ready to blow up the bridge!
Jang Woo!
No!
Jang Woo!
Go back!
Jang Woo!
Jang Woo.
No.
Run! Hyung-nim!
- Hurry! - Hurry!
Hyung-nim!
Jang Woo!
Captain!
[Lee Jang Woo]
I'm sorry…
for being so late.
Honestly, I was afraid to come.
I thought...
I would cry like an idiot when I saw you.
I wanted to believe you were still alive.
His name is Lee Jang Woo, rank is Captain.
It's been confirmed that he partook in the June 25th battle with the 1st Battalion.
He fought in many other battles since, and in July 1951,
during the battle on Yeongchon bridge,
he was reported as missing in action.
He's coming home after sixty years?
His body is full of fragments.
According to the doctor, they don't pose any threat to his life.
With his age, they've decided to not remove it.
Of course. They're sixty year-old fragments.
Too bad he didn't get here just a few days earlier.
Pardon?
He could have been recognized and awarded in a grand ceremony.
He's a perfect hero for the 60th anniversary celebrations.
What a shame.
Keep watch and let me know if he wakes up.
Yes, sir.
Someone…
Are you waking up, Captain?
Please make it possible to meet someone.
Who? Who do you want to see?
Su Yeon.
Kim Su Yeon.
[Lee Jang Woo]
Shin Tae Ho,
where are you?
Why aren't you hurrying here to welcome me home?
Captain Lee Jang Woo of 1st Battalion, 2nd Company,
reporting in after sixty years,
one month, and three days.
It's very different than the Seoul of your memory, isn't it?
How many bridges are there?
I'm not sure. Perhaps seventeen... no, maybe twenty?
So many.
This is a river that thirty people crossed on a raft…
It's hard to believe.
There was a war here...
sixty years ago.
Amazing… amazing.
Yes, when there are children who don't know about June 25th.
No word from Lieutenant Shin Tae Ho?
We're still trying to track him down.
I'm sure he's somewhere waiting.
He always keeps his promise.
What promise is that?
If…
something happens to me,
please take care of Su Yeon for me.
Will you do that?
The war is almost over, and there are only happy times waiting for you.
Why would you say something like that all of a sudden?
That's why I said "if”.
Captain.
Let's go in and rest now.
Tomorrow is an important day for you.
We will be taking you to Yeongchon, your hometown.
Yeongchon?
Su Yeon, I'm going to Yeongchon tomorrow.
I'm hoping I will see you when I get there.
I made it through each day...
by looking at your pictures.
I believed all my life, what you said.
You said if we have hope, love can be possible.
I trust that you will come see me tomorrow.
Your little book that you left behind is the biggest source of strength to me.
I looked at one page a day.
Really, just one page a day...
waiting each day for you to return.
I trusted that you would return before I finished it.
That's silly.
If we have hope, love will be possible.
That belief is what kept me going.
Okay,
I'll remember that for the rest of my life.
I have something to show you.
Su Yeon, what are you doing?
Sit down for a minute.
Open your eyes.
I planted the seeds that were in your book.
Look at the flowers that bloomed from them.
The seeds we buried in the back mountains of Pyeongyang,
in place of Myung Ho,
those seeds must have come to life here.
Yes, you're right.
Just like you said…
if we have faith, love, and hope, we can have a new life.
Captain, do you remember it?
This road… it's called Unification Road now, but it was called something else before.
It was Road No. 1, wasn't it?
[Unification Road]
Can you see it?
That bridge over there is Yeongchon Bridge.
Just beyond that is Yeongchon.
It's a demilitarized zone now, and no one is permitted there.
Yes, I understand.
He's here.
The person you want to see more than the Yeongchon Bridge.
Lieutenant Shin Tae Ho…?
Answer me, please. Is it you, Tae Ho?
Captain, congratulations on your homecoming.
Captain, your hand is still…?
No. It's fine now.
The moment I held your hand, it got better, like it was never hurt.
I don't know what to say.
What is this? What happened?
It happened when the Yeongchon Bridge blew up.
Captain!
Jang Woo!
No!
Su Yeon.
No!
Captain!
No!
- No! - Captain...
I was discharged soon after.
She must have had a hard time finding me.
You should have lived your entire life as a soldier…
How could this…?
It's all my fault.
No, Captain. It was my inadequacy. I'm sorry.
This is all my fault.
Thank you for staying alive.
Su Yeon…
did Su Yeon come with you?
My name is Lee Soon Yee.
I'm sorry, Captain.
Su Yeon… I couldn't...
protect her to the end.
She passed on seven years ago.
What are you talking about?
She's standing right here.
I'm sorry, Captain.
Your son, Il Nam...
had a daughter, who looks just like Su Yeon.
I wanted to meet you, Grandfather.
Father is tending to some urgent business, but will be on the next flight here.
When he heard your news, he was very shocked and happy.
All her life, Grandmother spoke of you.
Even that my studying art was because I took after you.
She's a fairly famous artist.
When she heard your news, she flew in from France.
Yes.
This…
was left to me by Grandmother.
She had this with her for her entire life.
Before she passed on, she would look at just one page a day.
She believed you would return before she finished it.
She really believed that.
Il Nam! Look here.
Daddy.
Aigoo, our son is so smart.
He knows his daddy right away.
Il Nam,
I don't think Daddy can return this year.
Let's wait until next time...
the dandelions bloom,
okay?
Il Nam, don't go far.
Jang Woo,
just yesterday, Il Nam was running a high fever.
But he's running and playing today.
He must have taken after you in strength.
Our Il Nam knows his Korean characters now.
It took you a long time.
He must take after his mom in smarts, not his daddy.
It would be so nice if you could see him now.
If I'd known this was going to happen,
I would have cooked one more meal for you when I met you again.
I would have kissed you often, and hugged you a lot more.
Why did I take it for granted...
that you'd always be with me?
You are going to come back, aren't you?
Come back before I finish looking at all these pages.
Okay?
[Kim Su Yeon]
Su Yeon, you're so close.
If I stretch out my hands, I can touch you.
But there are sixty years between us…
sixty years.
Lieutenant Shin, how could it change this much?
Change so much that you can't blame anyone...
for not remembering our war?
No one forgot, nor should it be forgotten.
It's a scar that's painful to think about,
but a scar that should not be forgotten.
As long as Su Yeon, and your son and granddaughter,
don't forget us,
it will live on in their memories.
We can only hope...
they never bear the scars we did.
Do you know how much I missed you?
Why did it take you so long?
Me, too. I missed you, too.
You know, I'm...
always by your side, don't you?
The time I had with Su Yeon was only twenty years.
The remaining sixty years were only filled with yearning and sadness.
But there's something interesting about that, Lieutenant Shin.
That love didn't fade, but I felt it becoming deeper.
The hope of being with Su Yeon again...
kept me from letting go of that love.
Captain, I lost my dream of being a soldier my entire life,
but I got to spend it with your family.
They were like my country to me,
and being with them erased all regrets.
If I'd succumbed to the scars of the war, that wouldn't have been possible.
The day we can cross that bridge,
that will be the day this war will truly end.
On July 27, 1953, the guns of the long war were silenced,
after three years, two months, and two days.
The war is not yet over. It is just at truce.
Thank you for watching.