In 1970, soon after leaving Tokyo's Haneda Airport for Itazuke, the passenger plane Japanese Ride 351 is hijacked by members of Japan's Red Army Faction who are armed with guns, bladed weapons, and a bomb vest. The young hijackers, who call themselves Ashita no Joe, demand to be flown to Pyongyang in North Korea, where they hope to recruit other Japanese leftists into a revolutionary army capable of toppling the Japanese government. Captain Takehiro Kubo is faced with a difficult situation: he and his copilot do not know Pyongyang's location or air traffic control frequency, and he misleads the hijackers about how much fuel remains, claiming the plane cannot reach the destination. To the hijackers’ surprise, they are allowed to land at Itazuke to refuel and pick up a map, a moment that reveals both the fragility of the situation and the careful restraint of the authorities.
On the ground, the crisis becomes a chess game between desperation and diplomacy. The Japanese authorities hesitate to take decisive action for fear of endangering the hostages, while a fighter jet stands by to stall for time. The hijackers eventually release the elderly, the infirm, and the children, yet they still prepare to depart for Pyongyang with 106 hostages aboard. The event triggers a rapid response from abroad as the Korean Central Intelligence Agency learns of the hijack. Director Park Sang-hyeon assigns Nobody, a seasoned but unofficial fixer and North Korea defector, to secure the hostages' release and secure South Korea’s strategic advantage on the international stage. Nobody enlists Lt. Seo Go-myung of the Republic of Korea Air Force, one of a handful of personnel trained in the RAPCON system, to pose as a North Korean air traffic controller and guide Japanese Ride 351 toward Seoul.
The plan hinges on deception: both Seo and a North Korean counterpart dial into an emergency frequency to reach the pilots and coax them onto a private line, where they can be steered away from Pyongyang and toward Gimpo International Airport in Seoul. On the ground, Nobody orchestrates a convincing Pyongyang illusion at Gimpo, recruiting actors to play soldiers and dancers for a North Korean welcoming party. When Japanese Ride 351 lands, the hijackers quickly spot anomalies—an American airliner on nearby tarmac, an African-American officer eating hamburgers, and Louis Armstrong playing on a radio—exposing the ruse and triggering a tense stand-off.
That night, Seo boards the plane to hear the hijackers’ demands. One hijacker wounds the lead aggressor to prove their resolve, and a grim ultimatum follows: if the plane does not resume its flight to Pyongyang by noon the next day, the hijackers will detonate their vest and blow up the aircraft. The South Korean authorities, reluctant to accept responsibility for the crisis, consider a negotiated exit for the hijackers, and Nobody pressures them to move forward with a hostage exchange that could spare the passengers. A public backlash arises when a false news report suggests a hostage of Korean descent, pouring pressure on officials to secure a quick resolution, and the president approves a deal to allow the hostages to be released.
In a dramatic turn of events, Nobody persuades Japanese Deputy Minister Shinichi Ishida, who is present as an observer, to offer himself as a hostage in exchange for the passengers’ freedom. The hijackers accept, the swap goes smoothly, and Japanese Ride 351 departs for North Korea. In a final twist, Nobody reveals to Seo that the hijackers’ guns and explosives were fake; their stated aim was never to harm the hostages, and the Red Army Faction effectively hoodwinked both the Japanese and Korean authorities. South Korea seeks to minimize the extent of government involvement and present the landing at Gimpo as a misstep, denying credit to anyone in the crisis management chain. Yet Seo receives no recognition, while Nobody receives a presidential watch and a new identity, giving him citizenship and a fresh name—Choi Go-myung.
The film layers a tense, procedural thriller with political intrigue, exploring how crises are managed, manipulated, and misrepresented on the world stage. It invites viewers to weigh the motives of a group seeking a dramatic political statement against the reflexes of governments eager to protect lives while preserving reputations. Through carefully staged maneuvers, shifting loyalties, and the stark realities of hostage negotiation, the story unfolds as a meditation on truth, power, and the cost of public perception.
