In January 1987, a college student who participated in the student movement died during the interrogation by the police. Director Park (Kim Yoon-seok) ordered the body to be cremated to destroy the evidence. On the other hand, Prosecutor Choi (Ha Jung-woo) who was on duty that day refused to perform the task and requested an autopsy. The results showed that the college student was tortured to death. After investigation, reporter Yoon Sang-sam (Lee Hee-jun) also accidentally discovered that the cause of death of the college student was suffocation, and the matter was exposed in major media. All kinds of evidence pointed to the police involved, but the authorities still insisted that he died of a sudden heart attack. The more Director Park tried to hide the truth, the more things got out of control... "1987" is set against the background of the June Democratic Struggle Movement in 1987 under the dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan. It tells the story of the people who revealed the truth of the incident after the leader of the popular movement named Park Jong-chul was arrested and tortured to death by the authorities, and confronted the public security authorities who intended to conceal the incident. After the murder of Park Jong-chul was exposed by the media that year, it directly triggered the June Democratic Movement against the dictatorial government of Chun Doo-hwan. In the end, Chun Doo-hwan was forced to accept the June 29 Declaration, and his regime fell soon after.