“Can they achieve air dominance so that they can land and airdrop troops? Didn’t think so.”
Huh? The Norks are using Soviet technology from the 60s
Any modern nation can devastate them. The only problem is that they are effectively pointing a gun at the South’s head and will pull the trigger when attacked.
Logistics is the key.
The Russian aircraft can’t reach North Korea - not enough range and they’d have to fly over China. They don’t have any operational CVs, either. So, no air dominance or even air support. The ancient Soviet hardware remains viable (at least until they run into Soviet navy SAMs). But this rules out air assualts.
The Norks have nukes, so getting a fleet a close to their coast is potentially dangerous (suicide sub attack is the most likely delivery method). Also, the Sov, er, Russians don’t have enough amphibious capability to land a viable invasion force.
If you can’t move your forces into the enemy’s country, you can’t really invade them.
I’m wrong.
The Sov, er, Russians have a border with NK. That means they can invade and might be able to sustain it as long as their rail line isn’t cut... And they will have air dominance since they won’t have to fly over China.