My biggest concern is whether there are any soldiers left willing to risk their lives in the DMZ for punitive operations against the North.

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The DMZ operations I am referring to are mostly unauthorized operations. The kind of things that cannot be spoken of.
In the past, even while earning a salary of only 3,000 won, we would enter DMZ operations with the mindset of protecting our families from the North.
But today, even sergeants earning millions of won in salary—would they carry out the same punitive retaliatory DMZ operations that were done 40 years ago?
It is frustrating, but while North Korean soldiers are still soldiers of the past,
what about South Korean soldiers?
In the past, a disciplinary officer would punch a soldier in the face 20 times every day, claiming it was necessary to "put Cineru (eye drops) in the eyes."
They would strike you right in the jaw. If you took those hits for three months, your eyes would sparkle.
During roll call, privates had to endure the urge to blink so that tears would stream down their faces; otherwise, they would be called to assemble after roll call.
If such soldiers no longer exist, these small-scale punitive retaliatory operations
will have to wait until highly capable physical robots are developed.
Hiding under a blanket and talking about "how we must retaliate against the North" is even more pathetic;
the reality is that since small-scale operations requiring one to risk their life are impossible for current South Korean soldiers,
we must simply maintain the status quo.