Alek Sigley: North Korea releases Australian student

Australian student Alek Sigley has been released from detention in North Korea more than a week after he was reported missing, following an intervention by Swedish diplomats.

The 29-year-old has been flown to China and is “currently at the Australian embassy in Beijing”, reports SBS News. No explanation has been offered for his detention.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison today confirmed that Sigley is “safe and well”.

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“I’m sure we all could not be more pleased that we not only know where he is, but we know he is safe,” Morrison told the Australian parliament. “On behalf of the Australian Government, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to Swedish authorities for their invaluable assistance in securing Alek’s prompt release.”

Meanwhile, Sigley appeared to be in good spirit as he talked to reporters after flying into the Chinese capital, saying: “I’m OK. I’m OK. I’m very good.”

Who is Alek Sigley?

Perth-born Sigley is a postgraduate student at Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang and is studying for a master’s in Korean literature. He has travelled to North Korea several times since 2014, according to his family.

The BBC says it is “rare but not unheard of” for students to attend North Korean universities. The Chinese government reportedly offers 60 students full scholarships to North Korean universities each year, and a handful of Western students are also living in the country.

Sigley speaks both Korean and Mandarin fluently, as well as some Japanese. He married his Japanese-born wife, Yuka Morinaga, 26, last year in Pyongyang, and also owns and runs a tour company in the North Korean capital, CBS News reports.

A keen blogger, Sigley frequently writes about his experiences in Pyongyang, and recently penned an article in The Guardian in which he said he was “free to wander around the city, without anyone accompanying me”. He added that he had “nearly unprecedented access” to locations across the country, where foreigners are usually tracked constantly and told not to stray from pre-designated tour itineraries.

What has happened?

Sigley was reported missing on 27 June, after failing to respond to messages from his family and friends for almost three days, and going silent on social media and other channels. South Korean media subsequently claimed that he had been taken into custody by North Korean officials, although no evidence was offered to back up the claims.

The Australian Foreign Ministry then announced that it was providing consular assistance to “the family of an Australian man who has been reported as detained in North Korea” and was “seeking to confirm his whereabouts and welfare”.

As Australia does not have an embassy or consulate in North Korea, consular assistance was provided by Sweden, which has a base in Pyongyang.

Sweden aided the country as part of “the framework of our bilateral agreement with Australia”, a spokesperson for the Swedish Foreign Ministry told The Daily Telegraph.

On Wednesday this week, Australia’s minister for foreign affairs, Marise Payne, said that her government had asked Sweden’s special envoy Kent Rolf Magnus Harstedt to discuss Sigley’s case with North Korean officials, reports SBS News.

One of the student’s friends, Leonid Petrov, a North Korea expert at the Australian National University, told The Sydney Morning Herald that he was “surprised at how open [Sigley] was on social media”, and that “potentially that might have led to the situation he is now in”.

Following Sigley’s release, his father, Gary, said that “would not speculate on why his son was detained”, reports SBS News.

“We are just so glad to hear that Alek is now safe and sound in Beijing and we can see him in a few days,” he told Perth reporters.