US EditionSeoul to Ease Access to North Korean Newspaper
South Korea's government will reclassify North Korea's Rodong Sinmun from restricted to general material, allowing easier print access while online access remains banned, officials said.
- On Dec 26, the South Korean government announced it will reclassify Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's official newspaper, as general information, easing public access after an inter-agency consensus.
- The National Intelligence Service said it will positively review regulatory changes to uphold the public's right to know, after the Unification Ministry told President Lee Jae Myung last week it aims to ease access to some North Korean materials.
- Online restrictions remain as access to the Rodong Sinmun website stays banned, the print edition is limited to designated facilities after identity checks, and Seoul blocks around 60 North Korean websites under the Information and Communications Network Act.
- Government officials agreed to begin necessary administrative steps early next week, with the Unification Ministry, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science and ICT, and Korea Media and Communications Commission coordinating implementation.
- Both the Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party proposed legislation to shift North Korea information regulation to the Unification Ministry, amid agency differences and no response from Pyongyang.
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So far, the "Rodong Sinmun" could be consulted in South Korea only in designated establishments, after verification of the identity of the applicant and the reason for his wish to access the content.
S. Korea to permit public access to N. Korea's main newspaper
South Korea said Friday it will reclassify North Korea's long-banned state newspaper as general information, easing public access, in the latest overture from the administration of dovish President Lee Jae Myung.
The Government of South Korea announced today that it will allow access to the official communication body of the North Korean system, led by Kim Jong-un. The official journal of Pyongyang, Rodong Sinmun, has so far been classified as "special material" and will become "general material", being the measure "executed at the beginning of next week through appropriate administrative procedures", read in official communication. The Rodong Sinmun wil…
South Korea is easing access to North Korea's official party newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, by changing its classification so that the print edition will be much easier to access starting next week, in another conciliatory gesture in Seoul-Pyongyang relations. While online access remains banned, the decision has sparked a major political debate in the country.
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