In 1905, Japan forced Korea to sign the Eulsa Treaty, stripping the nation of its diplomatic rights and reducing the entire peninsula to a Japanese colony. By 1909, when Harbin begins, Korea’s small but tenacious Righteous Army militia is deep into a campaign of armed resistance against the Japanese. After emerging as the sole survivor of an especially bloody skirmish, Ahn Jung-geun (Hyun) heads an operation to assassinate Itō Hirobumi, the first Japanese Resident-General of Korea and a key symbol of violent colonial oppression. The operation will require Ahn and his cohort to travel clandestinely into Russia, gathering resources and allies while concocting elaborate decoys. With terrifying risks at every turn, murderous security forces on their tail, and the entire plan under constant threat of collapse, the question arises: how many Koreans must die for the sake of their country’s independence?
