SEOUL: Since the beginning of 2026, South Koreans have been able to take a clearer look at the opaque regime of North Korea through its mouthpiece newspaper Rodong Sinmun.
Previously restricted material available only through permit application, the newspaper is now freely accessible at more than 180 institutions across the country, mostly university and public libraries.
This easing of curbs is part of a broader approach by the South Korean government to allow public access to North Korean materials, citing the public’s right to know, although the South Koreans have shown little interest so far with some seeing the newspaper as propaganda.
The newspaper is obtained via a third-country intermediary so there is roughly a one-month lag in the currency of Rodong Sinmun issues.
For decades since the Korean war ended in 1953, North Korean materials such as newspapers and broadcast channels have been heavily restricted in South Korea as anti-state propaganda under its National Security Act which bans the sharing, possessing or accessing of such materials.
Direct access to North Korean websites is also blocked to the public, with exceptions made for designated government bodies such as the defence and unification ministries, authorised research institutes and media organisations.
The lifting of restrictions on the Rodong Sinmun, or Workers’ Newspaper, is the first step in the South Korean Unification Ministry’s efforts to allow public access to North Korean materials with more, including websites, to come in the future, a ministry spokesperson told The Straits Times.
In a roadmap unveiled in December 2025, the Unification Ministry had pledged to re-establish “peaceful coexistence in inter-Korean relations” through the three core principles of “respecting the North’s existing system, not pursuing unification by absorption, and not engaging in hostile acts”.
The three core principles were first unveiled by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung during his address to the United Nations General Assembly in September 2025, as the foundation of his administration’s North Korea policy.
Inter-Korean relations have taken a nosedive since 2020 when Pyongyang blew up the Inter-Korean Liaison Office in Kaesong near North Korea’s border with the South, citing agitation by anti-regime leaflets sent by North Korean defectors in South Korea into the North.
The Unification Ministry has said that a top priority is to restore inter-Korean communication channels with the aim of preventing clashes and to facilitate engagement with the North.
But the authorities’ move to build better understanding of North Korea appears to have left many South Koreans cold.
At the National Assembly Library in Seoul, which houses a large collection of hardcopy newspapers from around the world like The Straits Times and The New York Times, the Rodong Sinmun occupied one of the cubbyholes for foreign newspapers in the bottom row.
When The Straits Times visited on Feb 11, five copies of the six-page newspaper were available — the Jan 1 to Jan 5 issues.
During the three hours that ST was at the National Assembly Library, no visitors appeared to show interest in the papers. However, the most recent edition, dated Jan 5, was noticeably more worn than the others, with slight tears along the fold.
There were only about four people reading Japanese, English and South Korean newspapers, and all of them were elderly. They declined to speak to ST, citing the library’s usage guideline of no conversations.
On all five issues of the Rodong Sinmun on display, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is featured on the front page with the headlines often starting with “Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un”.
His remarks are accentuated by a slightly larger font size and different typeface, while his name is highlighted in bold.
In the Jan 3 issue, he is seen with his teenage daughter Ju Ae - widely touted to be his successor - during a visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, a mausoleum that houses the bodies of Mr Kim’s grandfather Kim Il-sung and father Kim Jong-il.
Ju Ae’s presence at that visit, together with a series of other high-profile appearances, has prompted South Korea’s National Intelligence Service to assess that Mr Kim may be laying the groundwork to consolidate his daughter’s status as a potential successor ahead of North Korea’s Ninth Party Congress - the regime’s largest political event scheduled to take place in February.
Most of the articles highlight Kim’s activities and remarks, with some being reports from various regions of the country on the positive impact of government policies on the people, accompanied by photos of smiling North Koreans.
In the Rodong Sinmun, quotations of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are accentuated by a larger font size and different font type to the newspaper text, while his name is highlighted in bold.
Foreign news coverage include stabbing crimes in Europe, the rejection of Western interference by Iran, and fellow communist state Laos’ success in economic development.
Of a more human interest nature are articles such as an advisory on how bad habits like the frequent crossing of legs can lead to pelvic deformation and increase risk of developing osteoarthritis, and one on New Year customs from around the world.
At the Unification Ministry’s North Korea data centre located within the National Library of South Korea in Seoul’s Seocho district, four other North Korean newspapers apart from the Rodong Sinmun, such as Pyongyang’s second-largest newspaper Minju Choson and the English language tabloid Pyongyang Times, were available for reading.
These newspapers were mounted on inclined tables directly facing the centre’s reception counter, with strict instructions that no photography was allowed. Photocopying, however, was permitted.
A sign next to the newspapers said that the papers were not originals, but were printed under licensing from a third-party news agency.
There were three people quietly reading materials at the centre when ST visited on Feb 12, but again, no one seemed to pay any attention to the North Korean newspapers.
About two hours into ST’s visit, An Kwang-hwek, an Inter-Korean Humanities doctoral researcher at Konkuk University, was seen casually flipping through the newspapers.
An, who has been studying North Korea since five years ago, told ST that the newspapers have always been available at the Unification Ministry’s North Korea data centre, but eased measures meant that the newspapers can now be photocopied freely.
He noticed a significant shift in North Korean media coverage of South Korea after leader Mr Kim’s proclamation that the two Koreas were “two states in a hostile relationship” on Dec 30, 2023, during a year-end plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea central committee.
“In the past, there were reports about South Korean citizens’ reunification-related or progressive demonstrations under the theme of national reunification. But now, coverage related to South Korea has been reduced mainly to event-focused reporting,” said An, who spoke with ST outside the library.
He also observed that North Korean media have increasingly shifted towards analytical coverage, placing greater emphasis on themes of anti-imperialism, national sovereignty and the transition towards a multipolar world order.
While the Rodong Sinmun might hold academic value to researchers, for most South Koreans that ST spoke to, it is just propaganda that is of little interest to them.
Chloe Shin, 36, an office worker, said: “I am honestly not interested at all about North Korea. If it is critical enough, the South Korean media will report it anyway.” - The Straits Times/ANN
