First North Korea Instagram Videos Give Eerie Glimpse at Mysterious Land

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By Sam Laird2013-07-22 23:28:44 UTC

Dennis Rodman visits aside, North Korea is primarily known in the western world for its fiercely isolationist reputation and antagonistic relationship with neighboring South Korea and the United States.

North Korea recently activated a 3G mobile network enabling a bit more access, but we now have a deeper glimpse at life in the mysterious communist dictatorship. How? Instagram says the first known videos from inside North Korea were posted to its wildly popular photo-sharing network.

See also: Follow These 10 Twitter Accounts for North Korea News

The short clips come from award-winning Associated Press photographer David Guttenfelder via his @dguttenfelder profile, as well as AP reporter Jean Lee. Guttenfelder has posted photographs from inside North Korea to Instagram for some time, but shared his first video — this panoramic look at capital city Pyongyang — on Saturday:

Lee, meanwhile, shared this video of North Korean state TV broadcasting Korean War footage from her @newsjean account on Saturday:

At the time of writing, Guttenfelder has since posted four additional videos from North Korea. This clip was shot while driving along a desolate stretch of highway outside Pyongyang:

This one shows a restaurant worker adding up tabs, while a TV behind her broadcasts military videos:

This clips shows North Korean soldiers at the Demilitarized Zone dividing North Korea and South Korea:

And this one shows a captive turtle swimming in its home in a Pyongyang hotel lobby:

Guttenfelder's short, unedited videos provide an interesting and unique look at life inside North Korea for the outside world. Just how much more connected regular North Koreans become to the rest of humanity, however, depends on their government. When North Korea launched its 3G network back in February, citizens were allowed to use it only for texting and reading official state news, while foreigners could access the larger web.

Image: Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images

Topics: US & World, US & World, World