“He’ll be no match for the hardline military/intelligence elites that have managed to survive Kim’s reign.”
My suspicion is they ARE his reign. Suppose the current Kim decided to institute freedom of speech and travel. Do you think he would live thru it? If not, who’s running things?
No. I think that Kim still wields power and while he’s weakening, he still is too intimidating to try anything against. You underestimate dictators and what they are capable of. Eastern politics especially. he still likely has a highly loyal cadre to support him still.