I’ve held a similar theory/hunch about Kim and his movements towards this day. I suspect some of the ugly things that have happened, like Otto, are not connected to Kim, but just the machinations of the NK system doing what it’s done for generations.
Meanwhile Kim’s been killing and clearing out threats to his leadership. The only hole in this theory is the killing of his half brother, who by all accounts wanted nothing to do with NK or it’s politics. That one stumps me.
Final analysis is that I think Kim wants to transform NK into a future SK-like state.
It would be so interesting if at some future time, Kim would consent to a tell-all under promise of amnesty. Where was Kim when the Otto Warmbier travesty was going down? Did he have qualms but also fear to disturb the status quo? The mindset of one in that prison state might be one that would throw the mind any free Westerner for an utter loop. Even Kim is in kind of a prison, in that the only honor he knew (until Donald Trump) came from North Korea.
May be that was a message to Kim that even if he thinks he can escape they will still get to him.