Kim Jong-un’s succession to the throne (is there another more proper term for it?) of North Korea has not been greeted with universal acclaim in that country.  After executing his own uncle and conducting sweeping purges intended to solidify his control, it appears that his hold on power remains uncertain.  Now, with a very high-ranking defector reported to have fled to South Korea and numerous lower-ranking defectors fearing purges also jumping ship, the world’s only three-generation hereditary communist dynasty may be seeing its last days.

Fox News reports:

A high-ranking officer from North Korea's military intelligence agency fled to South Korea last year, the Seoul government confirmed Monday.

The colonel, whose name was withheld by the South Korean government, worked for the North Korean military's General Reconnaissance Bureau. The agency is believed to be behind two deadly attacks blamed on Pyongyang that killed 50 South Koreans in 2010.

The General Reconnassance Bureau also deals in cyberwarfare, and it is widely suspected of being behind the 2014 hack attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment.

South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported that the colonel is viewed as an elite member of North Korean society by other defectors from the Communist dictatorship. 

"He is believed to have stated details about the bureau's operations against South Korea to authorities here," the agency quoted a source as saying.

The announcement of the colonel's defection came three days after South Korea revealed 13 North Koreans working at the same restaurant in a foreign country had defected to the South, the largest group defection since North Korea's young leader Kim Jong Un took power in late 2011. South Korean media reported the restaurant is located in the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo. (snip)

Yonhap also reported that a number of low-level North Korean officials based in foreign countries have sought asylum to avoid being caught in one of Kim Jong Un's purges. South Korea's Unification Ministry confirmed Monday that a North Korean diplomat based in Africa also separately defected to South Korea last year. It didn't elaborate.

North Korea’s regime is warning its people that they should prepare to start eating roots, as another famine is in prospect – even as Little Kim has ballooned to a grotesque 300 pounds and must walk with the assistance of a cane owing to his gross obesity:

Is this a face that would inspire confidence in a very hungry North Korean cadre?  Young Kim was brought up in Switzerland during a major part of his youth and has never gone through any of the rigors ordinary North Koreans face.  It may be wishful thinking on my part, but with China taking tough steps to penalize North Korea for its nuclear program and war-mongering of late, pressure may be mounting from within.  China recently embargoed North Korean coal exports to its power stations, the major source of foreign currency for the regime other than counterfeiting and drug dealing (in part via diplomatc pouches).

No wonder Kim is overeating – he's got a lot of stress.