Based on a true story.  A six year old boy is separated from his family in Seoul train station in 1968 and must learn to survive in a harsh and dangerous world.  But what happened to his brothers, and will he find them again?

SYNOPSIS:

1968, BUSAN, POST WAR KOREA. Young JI SOO (6) and his brothers YAE SOO (8) and KYONG SOO (10) struggle to survive after their MOTHER, driven desperate by poverty, is forced to travel in search of their father. Hungry, the brothers search for their mother and are eventually taken to be with her in Seoul. Unhappy in this sprawling, cramped city, Ji Soo is desperate to return to the countryside and defies his brothers by sneaking out of the apartment to follow Kyong Soo. He follows him to the train station where Kyong Soo shines shoes to earn money, hoping to save enough to take them back to Busan. He is angry when he sees Ji Soo, telling him to go back to the apartment. Instead, Ji Soo gets hopelessly lost in the vast train station.

Desperate to get back to his family Jin is tricked by a stranger and sold to Hwa Saeng Won orphanage, where the children live in squalid conditions and are made to work long, grueling hours for their keep. They misspell his name and he is now JIN. He tries and fails to escape and befriends JAE WOK (9), who teaches him how to survive there. Jin waits for his family to find him, certain that they will come. Three long years pass until the orphanage is closed down and Jin is moved to Holt International Children Services, ran by American, BERTHA HOLT. Here the children are cared for, nurtured and educated. Bertha enrols Jin into Taekwondo lessons to help him find self-discipline. He now longs to be adopted and tries hard to be the best at everything, hoping to be picked, but must watch the babies and younger children leave first. He is called into the office to meet AE-JUNG, who claims she knows his family. He doesn’t know or trust her and she leaves. Soon afterwards, he is adopted by FRANK and PAT STEARNS, an American couple (early 30s). Whisked away to a frightening new land, Frank and Pat show Jin compassion and love that he could only dream of and this sets him on course to thrive.

2012, CANTON, OHIO. Jin is happily married to CAROLYN and proud father to ELENA (8), however, he works long hours as the manager of a furniture store, at the expense of spending time with them. Frank is taken ill and urges Jin to be there as a father and husband, not just a provider. After Frank’s funeral Jin finds his thoughts drifting back to the family he has forgotten in Korea. He is worried about what he might find out, but decides it is time to stop running. He hopes finding them will bring closure and allow him to bridge the gap between himself and Elena. Returning to Korea with his family Jin, is forced to confront both the good and bad of his past. This is Jin’s biggest chance of finding his family, but with such a short time available, the stakes are high and the chances feel remote. Just as he loses hope, he is finally reunited with his older brothers through the magic of reality television. He is able to fill in what happened and learns that Ae-Jung did know his family and returned with his brothers the day after he left for America. Jin has learnt how important his family is in his life and that it truly takes a village to raise a child.