Top North Korean Defector Says Kim's Days Are 'Numbered'

The days of the Kim dynasty holding a total authoritarian grip over North Korea may well be "numbered," one of the country's highest-ranking defectors said on Wednesday, adding that dissent is on the rise in the isolated Asian country.

"The traditional structures of the North Korean system are crumbling," Thae Yong Ho said at a press conference in Seoul, according to the New York Times.

The defection of Thae, North Korea's erstwhile deputy ambassador to the U.K.