North Korea said its soldiers are too busy carrying out construction projects to respond to “provocative” U.S.-South Korea joint military drills this week, a message experts said appears aimed at highlighting the need to deescalate tensions on the peninsula.

However, the same statement carried by Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Tuesday also warned that Washington and Seoul will pay a “dear price” for practicing invasion, condemning the large-scale Freedom Shield exercises with U.N. Command (UNC) member states.