South Koreans can now read Rodong Sinmun, the main newspaper of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party, without prior approval from the authorities, following the government's relaxation of a decades-long restriction on Pyongyang's publications, the Ministry of Unification said Tuesday. Under the new policy, Rodong Sinmun — long classified as a "special publication" — has been reclassified as a "general publication," allowing the public to access issues at libraries without special approval procedures. "Starting today, visitors to institutions authorized to handle the newspaper will be able to access Rodong Sinmun in the same manner as general publications, without the need for separate identity verification or application procedures," Vice Unification Minister Kim Nam-jung said at a briefing. Kim said the change is intended to guarantee the public free access to information about North Korea, moving away from the current system in which the government controls and selectively provides that information. According to the ministry, 181 institutions nationwide hold copies of Rodong Sinmun,