Tensions have eased on the Korean peninsula with both Seoul and Pyongyang lowering their military alerts. North Korea today lifted a special military alert implemented in response to the South’s military drills.

In response to the lowering of the military alert by the North, both the South and United States forces reduced their alert status to a normal level.

The two sides were on the brink of war after a North Korean artillery attack on a South Korean island left four people dead late last year. Seoul launched a series of live-fire exercises after the shelling.