The unfortunate thing about contemplating a conflict btwn North and South Korea is that it will not be about those two countries.
It will be a conflict btwn China and the U.S. THAT is the reason for my concerns about the idiots at the helm of State and Defense and the traitor on Pennsylvania Ave!
If it came down to a contest btwn North and South Korea, I have little doubt that the South would prevail. Absent nukes, they are better armed, better trained and about 4+ inches taller and lots of pounds heavier due to better nutrition for generations. ROK Marines are crazy bastards; I’ve seen them fight playfully in Asia - they’re nuts. Nobody messes with them.
It is something to worry about, however even China may be running out of patience with the Kim dynasty. Depending on how the events unfloded, China just might set this one out. Given the choice between a nuclear armed North Korea run by the Kim dynasty with its Russian influences and a non-nuclear ROK in control of the peninsula, China just might go for the non-nuclear neighbor with no Russian ties.
Then again, there is that whole Communist solidaity issue to muddle up the problem. Given that issue, China would probably like to see an ultimate stalemate in which a Communist North Korea beholden to China survives, but without the nuclear weapons arsenal and without a Kim dynasty causing trouble.