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There've also been international hacking allegations on the Korean peninsula. South Korea recently accused North Korea of hacking into its military computer systems and then leaking the South's confidential information. It's had to stay on guard against the North, even as South Korea has been dealing with its own political upheaval.

Late last week, South Korea's lawmaking body voted to impeach President Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal. South Korea's first female leader had admitted to sharing confidential information with a close friend who doesn't hold elective office. The nation's constitutional court will decide on the next step of the impeachment process. Even with that going on, though, many government officials have their attention focused on the North.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: North Korea has been remarkably quiet as of late, but is that all about to change? North Korean state-run television on Sunday out some fresh photos of a military drill targeting the Blue House, the mock-up of the Blue House. That's the South Korean presidential office.

North Korean special forces are seen parachuting down to the replica of the Blue House before storming it. Heavily camouflaged paratroopers then dragged a figure out of the building, into a helicopter, which takes off. The anchor says they are capturing the enemies that need to be put on trial.

We then see heavy artillery which destroys the presidential office in a blaze of fire and smoke.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un himself directed the exercise, according to the state-run media KCNA. And he's quoted as saying, "Well done, the enemy troops will have no space to hide themselves, far from taking any counteraction."

Now, these dramatic images clearly intended to provoke a response and they did. The South Korean Unification Ministry said that this was a childish act, and also the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that if North Korea strikes, they will strike back and the leadership will suffer a fatal blow.

Now, it is worth mentioning the timing. It could well be that this drill happened on Saturday, although KCNA never gives a date of any events that Kim Jong-un attends. But if it were Saturday, that is just one day after the impeachment of South Korean President Park Geun-hye by lawmakers. This is a saga that North Korean media has been reporting on religiously.

Experts say, also, the relatively restrained behavior we've been seeing from North Korea recently, certainly in recent weeks, could be because of the U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Experts say that Kim Jong-un is unlikely to push too hard until he has a better idea of what he's up against.