[4] Due the low wages paid by the newspaper, many journalists have had to use the privilege of being able to travel freely in the country to collect bribes or engage in underground trade in order to make a living.

[citation needed] Following the purge and execution of Jang Song-thaek, Rodong Sinmun deleted some 20,000 articles from its web archives,[7] while others were edited to omit his name.

[10] While annual 1 January 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 North Korea.

[16][17] 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.