In a small town along Route 7 in Akita Prefecture, Yong-ho decides to close down the pachinko parlor that he and his mother Kyong-ja have operated for 50 years. He invites his mother on an overseas trip to celebrate her retirement, but she says she wants to go to Niigata. At the port of Niigata, Yong-ho remembers that his aunt Sun-ja went to North Korea from there, and realizes how his mother feels. When his mother dies, Yong-ho is left alone and finds a letter from North Korea addressed to his mother.