Australian student Alek Sigley reportedly arrested at university in North Korea

The loved ones of a Perth student who has vanished in mysterious circumstances in Pyongyang have broken their silence amid rumours of his arrest.

The family of an Australian who vanished in North Korea in mysterious circumstances have broken their silence.

Alek Sigley, 29, who is a postgraduate student at Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang and a self-employed tour company operator, has not been seen or heard from by friends and loved ones for more than 48 hours.

He was identified in South Korean media overnight as having been taken into custody by North Korean officials.

Australian officials have been trying to confirm whether he has in fact been arrested or if there is some other explanation for his disappearance.

On Thursday afternoon, Mr Sigley’s family issued a statement confirming they remained unsure of his fate.

“As of 1pm (AEST), it has not been confirmed that Alek has been detained in the DPRK,” it said.

“The situation is that Alek has not been in digital contact with friends and family since Tuesday morning Australian time, which is unusual for him.

“Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is therefore seeking to confirm his whereabouts and welfare.”

“Alek is an Australian-born Asian scholar and traveller who has visited, studied and lived in several countries in Asia. Alek can speak Mandarin and Korean fluently along with some Japanese.

“He is studying for a Masters in Korean literature at Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang. Alek’s family hope to re-establish contact with him soon.”

Australian student Alex Sigley is missing in North Korea. Picture: Twitter

Alek Sigley and his wife Yuka (far right) with friends in Pyongyang. Picture: Twitter

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said the Australian Embassy in Seoul was trying to get to the bottom of the case.

“The embassy in South Korea is working hard to find him,” a DFAT spokesman told news.com.au.

“It has not been established positively whether or not he has been detained but we are working very hard to clarify that.”

The spokesperson said authorities had information relating to when Mr Sigley he was last seen but were not releasing it for the moment.

Mr Sigley is from Perth, Western Australia and has been heavily profiled about life in the notoriously secretive country by several media organisations, including Sky News, The Guardian and Public International Radio (PRI).

It is not known why he was arrested but just three months ago, Mr Sigley wrote an article for The Guardian in which he talked about being able to move around the capital unchaperoned and dine wherever he liked.

In February he was featured in an article for Public Radio International titled “Twitter and Cocoa Pops: The surprising life of a student in North Korea”.

Australian student Alek Sigley shows off the North Korean soccer team uniform on Twitter earlier this month. Picture: Twitter

Earlier, DFAT said it was in contact with the family of a man named by Korean-language media as Alek Sigley.

Officials said they were in contact with the family of the man “who has been reported as being detained in North Korea”.

Australia has no diplomatic mission of its own in Pyongyang and is represented in North Korea by the Swedish Embassy.

Mr Sigley is one of only a handful of Western students at Kim Il Sung University, where he studied Korean literature.

He also runs a company called Tongil Tours which specialising in bringing foreign students to North Korea and has written articles about Pyongyang’s dining scene and other issues for NK News.

In the absence of further information, it’s hard to fathom what beef North Korean authorities have with him.

While he has undoubtedly drawn attention to himself with his prolific tweeting and blogging, Mr Sigley’s observations about his adopted country are overwhelmingly positive.

He posts rave reviews about Pyongyang’s restaurants, for example and rhapsodises about the beauty of the North Korean people and its language.

His tour company is top rated on tripadvisor and those who have left reviews say things like “a treasured experience” and “extraordinary” and “highly informative five star trips”.

Executive producer for Sky News’ AM Agenda, Trudy McIntosh went on one of Mr Sigley’s tours in 2013 and said she “never heard him say anything inappropriate”.

“It’s alarming to see this happen to him,” she tweeted this morning, adding she hoped reports of his detention were “false”.

My heart goes out to Alek and his family - really hope the reports are false and that he is okay. https://t.co/HBF5wcitG5

— Trudy McIntosh (@TrudyMcIntosh) June 27, 2019

Alek Sigley and his wife Yuka on their wedding day last year. Picture: Alek Sigley

On May 4 last year, he married his longtime Japanese girlfriend Yuka in wedding attended by his mother and father Gary — who is the former director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Western Australia.

He wrote about the event, which was held in Pyongyang, in his blog, saying “we weren’t entirely sure what to expect, but the wedding turned out extremely well”.

“A few years back our Korean business partner, a good friend of ours, suggested that if we get married we hold our ceremony in Pyongyang,” he wrote.

“Years later, we made it happen … Our wedding hosted around fifty guests. We had a group of 20 family and friends join us from overseas and a group hosted by Tongil Tours.

“After the wedding day, we went on a one-week travel itinerary around the DPRK, going to Kaesong and the DMZ, sightseeing around Pyongyang and passing through Wonsan to hike in Mount Kumgang.

“Kim Il Sung University kindly allowed me to take a one-week break from classes to accompany the group. Our entourage included several honoured guests.”

Among the attendees was world renowned Russian academic and Korean history scholar Dr Andrei Lankov, who has previously taught at the Australian National University.

Mr Sigley’s last social media post came three days ago and seemed innocuous enough.

New signage above the main entrance to the Ryugyong Hotel bearing its name and logo. A sign that it will soon be open for business?

류경호텔 정문에 걸려있는 새 간판. 간판은 류경호텔의 이름과 상표를 표시하고 있다. 개업날이 다가오고 있는가? pic.twitter.com/bwdDot50ya

— Alek Sigley (@AlekSigley) June 24, 2019

You can visit the Kim Il Sung University campus on a tour to North Korea with @TongilTours. Our next tour, led by me: https://t.co/gSgCN3BEw1

— Alek Sigley (@AlekSigley) June 23, 2019

Canberra advises against non-essential travel to North Korea, where several foreigners have been detained.

Consular advice recommends Australians “stay as short a time as possible, eliminate unnecessary activities, and review your security arrangements.”

In 2016, Otto Warmbier, a University of Virginia student, was imprisoned during a tour of the authoritarian state after being accused of taking down a propaganda poster.

Doctors said he suffered severe brain damage while in detention, fell into a coma and died days after arriving back in the United States in June 2017. He was 22.

US student Otto Warmbier weeps at a press conference in Pyongyang on February 29, 2016 following his arrest for ‘committing hostile acts’. He later died in custody. Picture: KCNA