South Korea on Friday lowered its travel alert level for Hong Kong, the foreign ministry said, amid signs of stability in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory plagued by clashes between pro-democracy protesters and police.

The ministry downgraded the alert level to "caution," the lowest of the four-tier warning system. In November last year, it raised the level by one notch to "restraint" due to increasingly violent confrontation between the two sides.

"In line with this change, the government asks citizens to take care of their safety while in Hong Kong," the ministry said in a press release.