North Korean defectors to the South have been relying on "brokers" to send money home to their families. With no legal way to transfer funds to North Korea, these middlemen operate at huge personal risk.

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Secret calls using smuggled Chinese phones are made at remote locations. Code names are used. "It is like a spy movie and people are putting their lives on the line," says one of the brokers, Hwang Ji-sung.

If they are caught delivering money in North Korea, they face 15 years in jail or worse, a political prison camp. On the other hand, the practice had been tolerated by authorities in South Korea until recently - but not anymore.

BBC Korean talks to some of the brokers who believe they are helping North Korean defectors support their loved ones back home.

00:00 Introduction
00:54 “They call us brokers”
01:34 The video letter from a mother in North Korea
03:22 “I was a money courier in North Korea”
02:07 Brokers raided by police
04:27 Risky phone calls to North Korea
05:56 Brokers’ secret operation
07:02 “Delivering money is like a spy movie”
08:43 'Kim Jin-seok', the lorry driver’s story
10:13 “The money is the lifeline of my family in North Korea”
11:51 “North Korean defectors won't stop sending money”

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Filmed and produced by BBC Korean Service's Jungmin Choi
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