This archive report was first published on 4 July 2019.
On July 4, 2019, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that Alek Sigley, a 29-year-old Australian student, had been released from detention in North Korea.
Sigley, who was pursuing a master's degree in Korean literature at Kim Il-sung University in Pyongyang, had gone missing last week, sparking fears that he might be facing a long detention in North Korea's notorious prison system.
However, thanks to the intervention of Swedish officials, Sigley was released on Thursday morning, according to Morrison.
"Alek is safe and well," Morrison told Parliament.
Sweden has played a unique diplomatic role in North Korea since it established diplomatic relations with Pyongyang in 1975. As a member of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission, Sweden hosts and sponsors talks and distributes aid through the United Nations and the Red Cross.
Sigley, who was a rare Westerner to have embraced life in North Korea, had been sharing his experiences on social media, offering a revealing look at life inside the reclusive North.
His disappearance had raised fears that he could suffer an ordeal similar to that of Otto F. Warmbier, an American who was imprisoned in North Korea and died after being returned to the United States.
