Scott Morrison: missing Alek Sigley the focus of prayers

Scott Morrison says he will do everything possible to bring home Alek Sigley who remains missing in North Korea.

Alek Sigley with wife Yuka and friends on their wedding day in Pyongyang. Picture: Supplied.

Scott Morrison says an Australian student missing in totalitarian North Korea has been the focus of his prayers and that he will do everything to ensure he is brought home safely.

The Prime Minister has sought help from G20 counterparts to locate Alek Sigley, 29, who vanished in North Korea last week.

“This morning, there are many prayers but I must say my prayers this morning are for Alek

Sigley and his family,” Mr Morrison said after a church service in Canberra.

“This is a troubling situation and we will continue to use every effort we have to locate him and hopefully bring him home safely.”

Alek Sigley with wife Yuka Alek on their wedding day in Pyongyang.

Alek Sigley has been missing for nearly a week. Picture; Supplied.

Mr Sigley’s disappearance in North Korea came days before US president Donald Trump became the first American leader to cross the demilitarised zone into the communist rogue state.

Australian officials fear, but have not yet confirmed, that the Perth man has been arrested and is detained in Pyongyang.

Australia has no diplomatic presence in North Korea and is working through the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang to try to establish his whereabouts.

Mr Sigley blogged and tweeted regularly about his life in the country, but his observations were overwhelmingly positive and included rave reviews of Pyongyang’s restaurants.

(3/3) This restaurant by the way does Italian food such as pizza and pasta pretty well.

(3/3) 그나저나 이 식당은 삐짜, 스빠게띠를 비롯한 이딸리아료리를 잘 한다. pic.twitter.com/GZHx3dMGhh

— Alek Sigley (@AlekSigley) June 19, 2019

Last year, he began studying for a masters in Korean literature at Kim Il-sung University in Pyongyang. By that time, he had led more than a dozen trips into North Korea and married his Japanes­e student fiancee Yuka Morinaga at an elaborate wedding­ in Pyongyang.

When the couple were interviewed on Pacchigi TV for Korean­-Japanese viewers last December, they enthused about Pyongyang’s “cool” khaki jumpsuit fashion, attending karaoke picnics in the park, and the ­shocked reception of locals when Mr Sigley aired Australian movies­ at the Pyongyang International Film Festival.