| Director | Jang Hoon |
|---|---|
| Budget | ₩15 billion |
| Box office | $87.1 million |
In 1980, Kim Man-seob is a debt-laden and widowed single father who works as a taxi driver in Seoul. Overhearing another taxi driver bragging about a 100,000 won job to bring a foreign client to Gwangju, Man-seob steals the client, unaware of the events in Gwangju. The client is Jürgen "Peter" Hinzpeter, a German journalist wanting to report on the increasing civil unrest in Gwangju. The two men are stopped by soldiers as they approach Gwangju, but manage to enter with Peter posing as a businessman.
In Gwangju, they encounter a group of college students, who warm up to Peter and invite him aboard their pickup truck. Man-seob turns back, reluctant to be involved in the civil unrest. Along the way, he takes pity on an old woman and brings her to the local hospital to look for her son, who turns out to be one of the college students. Peter confronts Man-seob about abandoning him and offers to pay up part of the fare, but the college students and the local taxi drivers refuse to let Peter pay until Man-seob fulfils the agreed-upon trip.
Man-seob takes Peter and another student Jae-sik to a protest at the Provincial Office, where protesters greet the trio with food and gifts. Peter films the crackdowns that follow. Plainclothes Defense Security Command (DSC) officers attempt to arrest Peter, but the three evade capture. That evening, Man-seob's taxi breaks down and Tae-soo, one of the local taxi drivers, tows the taxi to his shop for overnight repair and lets the men stay at his place for the night. During dinner, the television station is bombed, and the three head there for Peter to film the turmoil. The officers recognize Peter and chase the three men; Man-seob is assaulted and Jae-sik is captured, but before he is taken away, he yells for Peter to share the footage with the world.
Distressed about his young daughter and unable to contact her, Man-seob departs for Seoul the next morning with the fake Gwangju license plates Tae-soo has given him. In Suncheon, he overhears reports of the events in Gwangju; the media claims North Korean infiltrators caused the chaos. Overwhelmed with guilt, he drives back to the hospital in Gwangju to find Peter in shock and Tae-soo mourning over Jae-sik's corpse. Peter, encouraged to continue filming by Man-seob, urges Man-seob to return to Seoul and see his daughter, but Man-seob insists on staying by his side.
At a street protest, soldiers open fire at civilians, including those rescuing the wounded. Man-seob and the other taxi drivers assist the wounded into the taxis and get them to safety. Departing for Seoul via a mountainous road, Man-seob and Peter arrive at an armed roadblock. The sergeant searches the car and finds the Seoul license plates but lets them go. The soldiers, receiving orders to stop any foreigners, open fire on the taxi but Man-seob breaks through. DSC officers give chase but the local taxi drivers intervene to allow Man-seob and Peter to escape at the cost of their lives. At the airport, they bid each other farewell. Before departing, Peter asks Man-seob for his name and phone number, but Man-seob writes "Kim Sa-bok" as his name and a cigarette company's phone number in Peter's notebook. Man-seob reunites with his daughter while Peter broadcasts his footage about the Gwangju Uprising. On subsequent trips to Seoul, Peter attempts to search for "Kim Sa-bok", but is unable to find him.
In 2003, Peter receives an award in South Korea for his report on the Gwangju Uprising. In his speech, he expresses his gratitude to "Kim Sa-bok" and hopes to see him again someday. Man-seob, still a taxi driver, reads a newspaper article about Peter's speech and achievements, murmuring that he is more grateful to Peter and that he misses him too. The film ends by stating that the real Peter died in 2016 without ever locating Man-seob, followed by a video of him expressing his thanks to "Kim Sa-bok" and his wish to see him again.