Could Kim Jong Il be Toppled?

According to the Times of London, "rumours and speculation abound" over the security and future of the North Korean dictator's regime:

"Hard information about the workings of the North Korean leadership is almost impossible to establish, but recently there have been unusually intense rumours about possible plots against the Dear Leader.

"The latest story doing the rounds of intelligence agencies is that his brother-in-law, Jang Song Thaek, a close aide who returned to public life last year after being purged, is emerging as a rival.

"Oblivious of possible power struggles behind the scenes, thousands of men and women, dressed in suits and brightly coloured traditional skirts, danced in the streets of the capital, Pyongyang, as the official state media reported extravagant messages of praise from around the world.

"But the tone of yesterday’s speeches supported the suspicions of many analysts that North Korea was still a long way from relinquishing its nuclear capability. “The successful nuclear test last year represents a proud victory of ‘army-first politics’ . . . and a thrilling demonstration of the greatness and might of socialist North Korea,” the Speaker of the country’s Parliament, Choe Thae Bok, said yesterday."

Could Kim be toppled in a coup? It's hard to imagine how, given that the North Korean people have been so indoctrinated to support him, even to the point of seeing Kim as some sort of dem-god.

I never really understood the depth of that brainwashing until I watched a North Korean woman interviewed about a fire in the government office in her small village. She told of how six villagers, in succession, entered the building to rescue Kim's photograph from the wall even though they knew they would probably die in the process. How could you ever persuade people of that mindset to accept the toppling of their leader?