Tendrils of Life

Acute food shortages and lawlessness plague communist-occupied Seoul at the start of the Korean War in 1950. Jimin, a sixteen-year-old boy, aches to return to the safety of his old home on Ockdo (Jade Island), a remote island he'd left years earlier. But only his father, who is absent from home, knows the way.

His adversary, a man who's been plotting to wipe out Jimin's family and steal their island, brings a tragedy and tries to eliminate him, forcing him to traverse the war-torn country on foot with his seven-year-old sister to find his father. But the war sweeps across the country multiple times and hinders them from meeting up with their father.

Back in Seoul, with Chinese troops (who have invaded the country to prop up the communists) bearing down on them, Jimin is forced to join the army, leaving his sister alone, hungry, and homeless in the cold, bomb-devastated city. During a long march, Jimin succumbs to hunger and fatigue and is left to die at a roadside house. He is rescued by a girl he loves, but the war, his adversary, and personal misfortunes continue to thwart his goal of returning to his island with his girl, father, and sister. He miraculously survives a massacre and an epidemic of relapsing fever and undergoes other gut-wrenching trials. He finally stumbles on his father, who is very ill with tuberculosis, and he must overcome formidable obstacles to return to Ockdo.