BTW...How motivated do you think the N. Korean army is (let's leave Red China out of this for the moment)? I could see their elite troops being motivated to fight, but I can't see the regular army being motivated to just about anything except defect at the first available opportunity. Just curious to get your assessment on morale.
I think you are right. Ordinary troops are not dependable and combat-ready. N. Korean military is essentially reduced to big terrorist organization. 100K~200K elite troops who can mount horrific terrorist operation(sabotage, hostage taking of entire city(e.g., Seoul), and WMD attacks.)
They cannot win a sustained conventional war.