As the U.S. and South Korea have ramped up large-scale military exercises in recent years, the challenge of understanding North Korean responses has continued to befuddle observers, as again became apparent during the allies’ latest drills.

The fact that the DPRK didn’t issue a major statement at the outset of Freedom Shield drills this month and a lack of missile testing during the exercise period led some analysts to suggest that North Korea had gone silent in an attempt to reduce tensions on the peninsula.

But only days after the drills concluded, the