President Lee: "Restricted access to Rodong Sinmun ,,,,,,, treated as someone who will be incited by the public"

On the 19th, President Lee Jae-myung criticized the restriction on public access to North Korean media such as Rodong Sinmun, saying, "Isn't it not treating the people as independent entities, but as entities to be swayed by propaganda and agitation?" Hong Jin-seok, Director of the Peace Exchange Office at the Ministry of Unification, Regarding the expansion of access to North Korean media materials, President Lee said, "Under current law, ordinary citizens have no way to access Rodong Sinmun in real time, but even so, every morning many journalists are writing articles citing Rodong Sinmun, and many researchers are conducting research using Rodong Sinmun," ,,, said, "The gap between the system and reality is significant, so efforts are being made to make reasonable improvements." In response, President Lee said, "Let's make a simple judgment from the public's perspective," and added, "The reason for blocking North Korea's Rodong Sinmun from viewing is because the public might fall victim to the propaganda and become 'commies.'" He continued, "Is that even possible? I think it will actually be an opportunity to truly understand North Korea's reality and think, 'This can't be done.'" So when Chief Hong said he would set this as a national policy task and pursue   it, President Lee replied, "Why treat this as a national agenda? We can just let it go," and added, "Just leave it open." Minister of Unification Chung Dong-young said, "The Ministry of Unification holds that position, but other ministries have different opinions," adding, "The National Intelligence Service is under the National Intelligence Service Act, We have grouped access based on special data guidelines," he explained, ,,, then President Lee said, "Even the National Intelligence Service doesn't let this slide, but the public worries that if they see this,,,, they might just let it slide and become pro-North Koreans," adding, "This is truly a problem." This is "a way of belittling the level of public consciousness. I hope this is done according to principle," he emphasized.