[Amelia]

There's a problem for the North Koreans, I think, if they invade South Korea - the soldiers will immediately be able to see how much better the South Koreans have been living. Will that lead to rebellion?

I think what I'm saying is they can't really invade without opening their own society to some extent or another. Does Kim Jong Il realize this, do you think?

[Steel Wolf]

There's a problem for the North Koreans, I think, if they invade South Korea - the soldiers will immediately be able to see how much better the South Koreans have been living. Will that lead to rebellion?

It won't lead to rebellion. It will lead to a lot of them not being lead anywhere. North Korean soldiers who know what the South is like, free from the security apparatus (who won't deploy with the army) and south of the DMZ could desert at the drop of a hat. Entire units could go rogue and disband, if prompted by their commanders (who would also be fleeing south).

To complicate things, the North Korean high command doesn't know for certain that an order to invade south would be obeyed by their own officers. The senior unit commanders know the score. Defending their side of the line is one thing, crossing it to certain death and defeat is another entirely. Unit commanders could either disobey or deliberately misinterpret orders to avoid battle. Any such men would be well treated by the victorious joint US-Korean forces later.

Nuclear weapons are much more reliable.

[Thud]

They don't have the petroleum, oil and lubricants to invade. That possibility ended when the USSR died. The most the NKPA can do is bombard the Seoul area from border fortifications. Whether they can do even that now is open to question.