After graduating from university, Il-ryeong goes back to his hometown, a small village beside the Nakdong River. Ok-nam is his lover and a teacher in his hometown. He cooperates with her in order to enlighten the people and to improve the village. Nakdong River is, along with The Street of Sun (1952) and A Bouquet of Thirty Million People (1951), one of the important films made during the Korean War that the Korean Film Archive has rediscovered and made available to the public.

대학을 졸업하고 낙동강 강변의 어느 자그마한 농촌의 고향으로 돌아온 일령은 그 고향의 여교사이자 애인인 옥남과 협력하여 무지한 마을 사람들을 일깨우며, 살기 좋은 내 고장을 만들기에 열성을 다한다.