[4] KCNA works under the Korean Central Broadcasting Committee, through which it is ultimately controlled by the Workers' Party of Korea's Propaganda and Agitation Department.

[5] In December 1996, KCNA began publishing its news articles on the Internet with its web server located in Japan.

In addition to Korean, KCNA releases news translated into English, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish.

[1] KCNA also has press exchange agreements with around 46 foreign news agencies,[13][page needed] including South Korea's Yonhap.

"[18][19] A talk given to officials at KCNA on June 12, 1964, outlines the function of the news agency: In order to become a powerful ideological weapon of our Party, the Korean Central News Agency must provide a news service in accordance with the idea and intention of the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung, establish Juche firmly in its work and fully embody the Party spirit, the working class spirit and the spirit of serving the people.

It must pay serious attention to each word, to each dot of the writings it releases because they express the standpoint of our Party and the Government of our Republic.

[20]Under the principle and guideline on the work of ideological propaganda and agitation put by the country's ruling party, the Workers' Party of Korea, the agency generally reports only good news about the country that is intended to encourage its people and project a positive image abroad.

[56] While annual January 1 editorials are a tradition among the papers, that year's brought attention from Western media outlets, by calling for a "nationwide campaign for driving out the U.S.

The 2009 editorial received similar attention, as criticism of United States policy was absent, and the admission of severe economic problems in the country.

[58][59] This was echoed again in its 2010 editorial, which called for an end to hostilities with the United States and a nuclear free Korean Peninsula.