SEOUL, May 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korea appears to have lifted its highest combat alert issued in March and completely withdrawn two mid-range missiles from its east coast, a senior government source here said Tuesday.

   Escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula with near-daily bellicose rhetoric and actions, Pyongyang on March 26 put its missile and artillery units on the highest alert level, citing the need to protect its sovereignty against threats from South Korea and the United States.

   The artillery units target the U.S. mainland, Hawaii and Guam and other U.S. military bases in the Pacific as well as South Korea, according to the statement by the (North) Korean People's Army's Supreme Command carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

   "North Korea appears to have lifted the highest combat alert around April 30," said the source, requesting anonymity.

   The complete withdrawal of two mid-range Musudan missiles the communist country placed on its east coast also came in accordance with the lifting of the combat posture, he added.

   "It appears that the two Musudan missiles have been moved to some other place, though we have yet to confirm where they are located," the source said. "Intelligence authorities of South Korea and the U.S. are closely tracking them."

   In early April, the communist country moved the Musudan missiles to Wonsan along with mobile launchers, fueling speculations that it would fire them before the April 15 celebrations of the 101st anniversary of the birth of late founder Kim Il-sung.

   While stopping short of confirming a media report that the pair of Musudan missiles have been moved to a storage facility, defense ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok simply said during a regular briefing that the South Korean military "has been tracking the North's ballistic missiles."

   Despite such signs of Pyongyang's backing down, the authorities here vowed to maintain a heightened readiness posture against the North's possible provocations.

   "We will maintain the staunchest military readiness posture at least during President Park Geun-hye's visit to the U.S.," said an officer. "Despite some changes in North Korea, we need to be on high alert against any types of provocations."

   Park is in the U.S. for a five-day visit that began on Sunday, which will culminate in a summit with her U.S. counterpart Barack Obama set for Tuesday, Washington time.

   During an interview with CBS television broadcast on Monday, Park warned that North Korea will pay the price if it launches attacks against Seoul.

   North Korea, which had toned down its war rhetoric recently, renewed its threats on Tuesday, saying it would "mercilessly avenge" any breach of its territorial sovereignty with rocket forces in opposition to the ongoing Seoul-Washington anti-submarine drills near the Yellow Sea border.

   Pyongyang has also recently spurned Seoul's calls for talks on saving the suspended joint industrial complex in its border city of Kaesong from permanent closure.

   graceoh@yna.co.kr
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