Austin , Texas ( CNN ) -- `` North Korean social media . '' In the famously restrictive country , where people have almost no Internet contact with the outside world , it sounds like an oxymoron . But on February 25 , Jean H. Lee of the Associated Press became perhaps the first person to send a mobile tweet from North Korea when she posted a message on the country 's new 3G wireless network , available only to foreigners . `` Hello world from comms center in â€ª # Pyongyangâ€¬ , '' she wrote . Lee has been active from North Korea on Instagram as well , posting snapshots of street scenes , food and government propaganda posters . As the AP 's bureau chief for both South and North Korea , Lee is the only American news reporter granted regular access to the secretive nation , which she has visited more than 20 times . She offered a rare glimpse of digital life beyond the DMZ -- the strip of land separating North Korea from its more open rival to the south -- during an onstage chat here Saturday at the South by Southwest Interactive festival . At a time when North Korea is responding to tougher sanctions from the U.N. Security Council with angry rhetoric and threats , Lee described a country with two parallel digital worlds -- one for residents and another for foreign visitors . While foreigners now have access to fast broadband Internet , with no firewall blocking certain sites , North Koreans can only use a state-controlled intranet service . The country lags behind much of the world when it comes to digital adoption , but there are signs that North Korea is trying to catch up , Lee said . The new Koryolink 3G network -- jointly owned by the North Korean government and an Egyptian company -- that launched last month marks a shift in policy for Kim Jong Un 's regime , which also has recently begun to allow foreigners to bring their cellphones into the country . `` We are starting to see more openness , '' she said . `` We 're talking baby steps . They 're a long way from being a free and open society . '' When Lee first visited Pyongyang in 2008 , security officers confiscated her iPhone at the airport , she said . `` I freaked out , '' she said . `` I tried to hide it in my pocket . '' Lee is joined in her social media updates from Pyongyang by AP photographer David Guttenfelder , who posts images often to his 71,000 Instagram followers . His photos offer a fascinating peek at North Korean life and culture : Teens skating on a roller track , a woman braving a snowstorm , photos of his in-flight meal on Air Koryo , North Korea 's airline . Lee said that North Korea , a country of about 25 million people , has only about 1 million cellphones , although the devices are gaining in popularity . North Koreans ca n't access Facebook or Twitter , although they have primitive social networks -- sort of like online bulletin boards -- where users share thoughts about innocuous topics such as pop music , she said . Everything North Koreans do online is tied to their identity , Lee said , so it 's easy for the government to monitor users ' intranet behavior . Lee said she has spent a little time on the country 's limited web but has n't seen any evidence of people using underground networks to talk more freely . `` I would like to ( see that ) . But it would be very dangerous , I imagine , '' she said . `` They have a culture of fear in North Korea that still exists . That 's something that is n't going to change right away . '' When former NBA star Dennis Rodman made a bizarre visit to Pyongyang last month , Lee said she encouraged the unlikely ambassador to take advantage of the nation 's new 3G cellular network . He took her advice , later tweeting , `` I come in peace . I love the people of North Korea ! '' Lee said the North Korean government has never tried to censor what she reports . But she is mindful that authorities may be monitoring her Web use . `` In any situation where I 'm accessing their broadband , they can probably see everything I 'm doing , '' she said .
Jean H. Lee may have been the first person to send a mobile tweet from North Korea . The country last month launched a new 3G wireless network , available only to foreigners . Lee , of the AP , is the only U.S. reporter granted regular access to the secretive nation . She spoke Saturday at the South by Southwest Interactive festival in Texas .