Poongsan

A man simply known as "Poongsan" (Yoon Kye-sang) - from the brand of North Korean cigarettes he smokes - makes regular trips across the Korean Demilitarized Zone, smuggling everything from people to antiques. No one knows whether he is from the North or the South, though from his commando-like abilities he is obviously highly trained. He makes contact with clients via a makeshift memorial-cum-bulletin board for divided families along the DMZ. On one mission he smuggles an antique, as well as a young boy, from North to South; when the smugglers are caught by the police, the National Intelligence Service (South Korea) becomes aware of Poongsan's existence. They contract him to bring a young woman, In-ok (Kim Gyu-ri (actress born August 1979)), from Pyongyang to her lover (Kim Jong-soo), a high-ranking North Korean official who recently defected and is still guarded by NIS agents. The arrogant official, who is paranoid about being assassinated, has been holding out on writing a report for the NIS until In-ok joins him. On the journey across the DMZ, In-ok accidentally sets off a mine that almost kills her and Poongsan, and also has to be revived by mouth-to-mouth resuscitation when she almost drowns. The mission is successful but In-ok has become attached to the man who saved her life. Suspicious that the two made love during the crossing, the official abuses In-ok after they are reunited and she expresses a desire to return to the North. Meanwhile, Poongsan is tortured by an NIS team leader (Choi Mu-seong) to find out whether he is a North Korean agent, but is rescued by the team leader's boss (Han Gi-jung). Poongsan is forced to rescue NIS agent Kim Yong-nam, who's been caught in the North and is under interrogation; in gratitude, and appalled by his own agency's methods, Kim later helps Poongsan escape from the NIS' control. But then Poongsan and In-ok are captured by North Korean agents in the South.