The Kims are a working middle class family living in Gimcheon, South Korea. Mr. Kim is a music teacher and composer that leads the music club at a factory for its largely female working populace, many who live in the dormitory on site. He also teaches piano on the side. He is the object of romantic fantasy for many a woman, as witnessed by the large number of women who are in the music club, and by the love letter he receives from one of them. Mrs. Kim, who is pregnant with their third child, is an at-home seamstress. They largely focus on the material aspects of their lives - such as building a new larger house on their property, recently purchasing a new piano, and wanting to purchase a television set - which leads to them always working to the exclusion of quality family time. Because Mrs. Kim is still working during her pregnancy, she is worn out. As such, the Kims decide to hire a maid. Asking Miss Cho, one of the women in the music club who also takes piano lessons from Mr. Kim, for a suggestion on who, they hire a young woman new to the factory as their maid. An incident with one of the factory workers coupled with a revelation by Miss Cho and the maid's arrival into the Kim house leads to a situation that threatens to destroy the Kim family as well as the life of the maid, as each of Mr. Kim, Mrs. Kim and the maid do what they do about the situation they've gotten themselves into for their own emotional self-preservation.