Surveillance alert status against Pyongyang lowered

South Korean and US forces have downgraded their surveillance alerts against North Korea after intelligence reports pointed to Pyongyang relaxing the standby status of military units on the west coast, the Yonhap news agency reported Friday.

The North Korean units, including artillery likely to have been involved in the shelling of a South Korean island on November 23, had been on active standby but now appear to be carrying out routine operations, the report said.

"The North Korean military recently withdrew an order for special military readiness it had issued in connection with our Hoguk military drills (in November)," Yonhap quoted a government source as saying. "We're looking at whether these steps are linked to the conciliatory gestures coming from the North with its offer for talks."

A South Korean defense ministry spokesman confirmed with AFP Friday that their troops have lowered the level of their alert status by one notch "in some areas due to fatigue."

South Korea raised its surveillance alert to a state of emergency, its second-highest level, after it exchanged artillery fire with North Korea near Yeonpyeong Island on November 23.

Agencies