The North Korean Rodong Sinmun newspaper will soon be made accessible to the general public.
On the morning of the 4th, a passenger at Pyongyang Sunan Airport is seen reading the North Korean Rodong Sinmun newspaper reporting on the South Korean art troupe's performance praying for inter-Korean peace cooperation and Chairman Kim Jong Un's attendance./Photo by Pyongyang Performance Joint Press Corps
On December 26, the Ministry of Unification, the National Intelligence Service, and other relevant ministries and agencies held a meeting of the "Special Materials Supervisory Ministries Council" to discuss the procedures for this measure. The Ministry of Unification stated, "We confirmed a consensus among supervisory ministries regarding the proposal to reclassify the Rodong Sinmun from special materials to general materials," and added, "Based on today's council review, the official reclassification of the Rodong Sinmun as general materials will be implemented early next week through the necessary administrative procedures, such as sending official documents to supervisory and handling agencies."
On December 19, President Lee Jaemyung pointed out during a Ministry of Unification work briefing, "Is the reason for preventing the public from reading the North Korean Rodong Sinmun because you are worried they might fall for propaganda and become communists?" The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Workers' Party of Korea, has so far been classified as "special materials," restricting public access. Once it is reclassified as general materials, ordinary citizens will be able to read it freely.
However, this only applies to the print edition, and access to the Rodong Sinmun website will remain blocked. The National Intelligence Service recently stated in a response submitted to the National Assembly that it "plans to review the issue of lifting restrictions on access to North Korean websites in a forward-looking manner."
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