“It could be the case that concern about the pandemic has downsized these exercises and, to shore up morale and continue developing capability, the North Koreans have opted to focus on missile launches,” said Ankit Panda.

“Kim Jong Un is celebrating his tenth year as leader, and after a challenging two years domestically as a result of Covid, extreme weather, ongoing economic issues, missile tests now are a way of signalling internally regime successes,” said Cristina Varriale, a research analyst at the Royal United Services Institute.

Finally, there’s the China factor. 

While North Korea’s neighbour and largest trading partner has pushed for the easing of sanctions and recently restarted cross-border trade, few believe Beijing is actively endorsing Pyongyang’s tests.

But Kim’s regime could be rushing them through to avoid impacting the Winter Olympics because of his “favourable relationship” with China, said Ms Varriale.

The proof of that theory will be borne out if the weapons tests stop come Feb. 4. Until then, Kim will keep the world guessing about his next move.