1分6合

A foreign correspondent reads North Korea's Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, on May 26 as he heads to Beijing after covering the demolition of Punggye-ri nuclear test site in North Hamgyong Province conducted on May 24. Yonhap

By Jung Da-min, Park Si-soo

A North Korean newspaper published by the ruling Workers' Party started charging for its PDF files, in an unprecedented free-to-paid service transition for a rare source of domestic-made political news of the reclusive state.

The Rodong Sinmun implemented the transition on Monday, said North Korea experts in South Korea and other countries.

As of Tuesday, an icon linked to daily-updated PDF versions of the Rodong Sinmun is nowhere to be found on its website. Instead the PDF files are being sold by Korea Media, a Tokyo-based pro-North media organization.

The intent behind the transition and price policy are not known yet.

"As far as I know, Rodong Sinmun officials discussed the transition for over a year to set the paper's position as a propaganda machine for the ruling party with a subscription fee," a North Korea expert said asking not to be identified.

The Rodong Sinmun has published a PDF-format newspaper primarily for overseas North Korean diplomats who are unable to read the printed version on the day of its publication. The files are in high demand among foreign scholars, journalists and government officials because they contain articles that aren't published by the online version of the paper.

Reading articles posted on the website is still free.