But the plain truth is that it is not a matter of if North Korea will implode, it is a matter of when.
The current South Korean government is, I beleive, from the liberal, peace weenie wing and is not adequately thinking things through. It seems their major focus is on minimizing the number of defectors and, therefore, the amount of handouts.
The handouts would better diverted to training. While it is unrealistic to expect that a college professor from North Korea could get a similar job in South Korea, it is not unrealistic to expect that they could be retrained to be, say, a restaurant owner or, even better, a bureaucrat who could help other NK refugees adapt in the near term and be available to retrain the NK populace in the long-term.
Historical models for this type of success exist. One of the best is probably Tuskegee Institute, founded by Booker T. Washington to teach and train freed slaves. This is where resources need to be redeployed. Not the typical Lieberal solution: "Throw money at the problem and run. Rinse and repeat as often as necessary."
Again, NK is not East Germany. It would be far more like incorporating a stoneage society in many respects. If NK implodes, look for SK to maintain the DMZ and set wickets for economic reunification. SK will want to bring the SK economy to the North, vice having NK's flood into SK.
The U.S. will have no contructive role in helping NKoreans directly until they've had time to socially adjust a bit. Even defectors are frightened of Americans from what they've been taught since birth. There is also the issue of an entire generation that is physically and mentally stunted from malnutrition.