North Korea’s meticulously choreographed mass celebrations can seem as though they’ve continuously intensified since Kim Jong Un’s ascension to power. The now annual events can seem like a neverending rising tone: forever escalating the threat posed by the isolated nation’s armed forces.

Just like the ever-rising Shepard tone, however, this phenomenon is in some ways an illusion. 

It’s true that the latest DPRK military parade on Wednesday featured more strategic ballistic missiles, in particular intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), than ever before. And the new type of solid-fuel design is a