The story involves four friends who become gangsters. As the film progresses they gain power and eventually find their way to Seoul. Being well-known as tough guys, Audie, Haetae, Lecaf and Gak Granger are high school classmates who took a pledge of brotherhood. Lecaf who is good at studying goes to Seoul right after the high school graduation, while his "brothers" gradually build up their power in the gang and get a chance to go to Seoul.
This movie follows the story of three friends in Korea, all three of whom drop out of school. The main character is Min, a tough guy whose widowed mother is a drunk. The story traces his journey from high school to the underworld as one of his friends introduces him to life in the mob. Complicating Min's life further is his romance with Romi, a girl from an upper-class family with dreams of going to a prestigious college.
Under the Han River lives Crocodile, a rugged member of the lumpenproletariat who exists from schemes and stealing. His position as a scavenger of society undermines South Korea’s boasts of its newfound economic position as an Asian Tiger. One day, Crocodile finds a girl floating in his river.
Jo Yang-eun was a leading mob boss in Korea in the 1970's leading the Yang-eun family. He was eventually arrested and charged under an internal security act and served 15 years in prison. This film, based on truth, is the story of his life in and outside of jail.
A general goes on a search for a book that reveals the names of revolutionaries in the area, leading to a showdown at a Shaolin temple where he faces off against the revolutionaries.
