The recent military tensions between South and North Korea, which were settled through a last-minute deal, stressed the importance of strengthening the military alliance between Seoul and Washington, the commander of the Eighth U.S. Army said Wednesday.

Following the detonation of wooden-box land mines on the South Korean side of the demilitarized zone on Aug. 4, which was blamed on North Korea, the two Koreas exchanged live fire on Aug. 20 and put their militaries on a war footing.

Tensions had escalated sharply since then before the countries reached a last-ditch agreement on Aug. 25 to pull back their combat postures and pursue dialogue.

"I think we relearned and reaffirmed that our efforts to strengthen this alliance are important, readiness is important and we demonstrated that," Lt. Gen. Bernard Champoux, the commanding general of the Eighth U.S. Army, said in a lecture at a local meeting of ROTC veterans.

As tensions spiraled last month, South Korea and the U.S. leveled up their WATCHCON threat alert system to guard against a growing threat of attacks by North Korea, with the U.S. vowing to send its powerful B-52 Stratofortress bombers.

"I think North Korea has also learned something and I think the two-plus-two talks were so successful," he said, referring to the inter-Korean talks attended by two high-level officials each from the countries.

The unpredictable nature and the pursuit of weapons of mass destruction by North Korea present "a real threat" throughout the Asian region, Champoux said, vowing to beef up the South Korea-U.S. alliance as a deterrent against North Korea's potential provocations.

"The North Korean government continues to steer the reclusive nation down the self-destructive path to the development of weapons of mass destruction," Champoux said. "I think we demonstrated our readiness and I think that readiness is a very strong deterrent to North Korea's potential provocations."

The U.S. is building a new military camp, named "Humphreys," in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, south of Seoul, to relocate its forces from north of the Han River and the dispatch of its best equipment and soldiers to South Korea demonstrates the U.S. commitment, he noted. (Yonhap)