I dont think he was refering to direct combat bu the ability to stage and deploy. The other joker in the pack is these tunnels they have supposed to have dug. So there is a chance soldiers could be popping up anywhere
Relatively small groups of lightly armed soldiers without mechanisation or support of any kind and no lines of supply aren't a major threat by themselves. The tunnels could be used to effectively infilitrate small commando units, which could launch various covert operations behind the SK/US lines and inflict quite serious damage. But a meaningful invasion through the tunnels? Nah. Even amidsts a general offensive, the impact of the infilitrating force would be minor.
North Korea does have 180,000 or so strong special forces unit, so the threat of the tunnels is still quite real. I suspect that most of that are just crack, brainwashed units who are trained and equipped to deal with internal dissident and any potentially revolting army units, but just a tenth of that number could cause significant headaches if used propertly.
I, for one, find it unlikely a whole lot of such tunnels exist. I think the official word was that 4 were found and up to 7 more suspected to exist, so I doubt there are 20 of them in total in the worst-case scenario. All would necessarily deploy very close to the front line, so they would likely be found quickly after being utilised, and be dealt with rapidly.
Tunnels were sometimes effective in WW1, they were mainly used to plant major explosive charges underneath enemy lines - sometimes with devastating effects. They might have been effective in Vietnam war, where there was no distinction between the enemy held territory and your own, due to the nature of the war. Any future war in Korea would likely resemble neither. Still, used propertly they could be a minor headache, but they wouldn't present a major factor.
McHrozni
And his father, the Great Leader, obviously.
