North Korea held an eighth national conference of war veterans in Pyongyang on 69th anniversary of the 1953 armistice agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.
Since early this year, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has also publicly and repeatedly justified his plan for accelerating military and nuclear buildup.
The International Atomic Energy Agency in June said the 5-megawatt nuclear reactor seems to have been operating since July 2021.
The facility was used to store radioactive and toxic waste from earlier reprocessing campaigns at the radiochemical laboratory located at the Yongbyon Nuclear Research Center.
North Korea has sought to show off its triangular alignment with China and Russia as the US has faced intensifying conflict with the two countries.
The President called for more effective deterrence against the threat.
The workshop aimed to realise the "organizational and ideological consolidation of the Party ranks," KCNA said.
North Korea has also increased the number of health workers in charge of anti-epidemic measures at the main transit points in the border areas and adjacent regions.
North Korea also criticized the US initiative to forge strong security links between its allies in the North Atlantic and Asia-Pacific areas.
North Korea claims that it had repatriated five of 13 Japanese nationals and the remaining had died. But Japan disagrees with their claim.