The panic-stricken wife of an Australian masters student believed to be detained in North Korea says she’s ‘very concerned’.
Alek Sigley, 29, who is believed to be the only Australian living in North Korea, went missing this week after a series of posts on social media about life in the secretive nation’s capital, Pyongyang.
Mr Sigley would be the first foreigner to be detained in the country since American Otto Warmbier was imprisoned and tortured for 18 months. He died just six days after returning to the US in 2017.
Mr Sigley’s wife Yuka Morinaga said on Thursday she received her last message from him on Monday evening.
Alek Sigley (right), 29, who is believed to be the only Australian living in North Korea, went missing this week. Mr Sigley’s wife Yuka Morinaga (left) said he has not been in contact for four days
The 26-year-old, who is based in Tokyo, usually speaks to Mr Sigley every day on WhatsApp.
Ms Morinaga said she didn’t notice anything ‘weird’ in their last conversation as her husband spoke about food and shared photos of a tailor-made suit he made with classmates, News Corp reported.
Mr Sigley married Ms Morinaga in May 2018 in Pyongyang in front of dozens of friends and family from all over the world.
Their wedding video shows the couple, who studied together at the Australian National University in Canberra, touring the city before their reception.
Ms Morinaga said her husband is both cautious and respectful when it comes to understanding the culture in North Korea.
Alek Sigley (pictured), 29, is believed to have been detained in North Korea after a series of social media posts about his life in the country
‘He is one 100 per cent aware that he’s a guest there and needs to respect the culture,’ she said.
‘He is always trying to demystify North Korea unlike typical Western media.’
Mr Sigley speaks Mandarin and Korean and usually travels between Pyongyang, Tokyo and Australia, Ms Morinaga said.
She hopes her husband’s Korean would help him communicate with people in charge.
Ms Morinaga, who confirmed DFAT officers have tried to contact her, said she is yet to know if her husband has been detained.
‘I’m worried but we don’t know anything yet,’ she said.
Ms Morinaga said some people might call her husband ‘naive’ but she described him as ‘pure’ and a believer in ‘doing good’.
He had plans to visit Tokyo and Australia next month while his classes took a break for their university holidays.
Mr Sigley with his father Gary (far left), a relative and his Japanese wife Yuka in Pyongyang
Otto Warmbier (pictured as he was taken in to custody in Pyongyang) was detained in North Korea in 2016 after allegedly taking down a propaganda poster which he planned to take as a souvenier
Mr Sigley arrived in the country as an exchange student, before starting up a business offering guided tours.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed an Australian man had reportedly been detained in North Korea.
Mr Sigley ran a blog that provided updates on his life in North Korea – even stating he wouldn’t get involved in controversial topics that would land him in hot water.
‘Please note that because of my studies and work in-country I generally steer clear of politically sensitive issues in my blog,’ he wrote.
‘At any rate, I’m not particularly interested in saying what has already been said a thousand times before about North Korea. In my blog I aim simply to present life in North Korea as I see and experience it.’
However, despite his caution, he recently ‘liked’ a joke on Facebook about him being friends with CIA operatives, as well as comments about nuclear warfare in North Korea and propaganda posters that may have upset authorities.
After posting a photo of himself and a friend – whose face he covered with an emoji – Mr Sigley liked a comment joking about the mystery man being an American spy
He also shared photos of propaganda posters he had seen throughout the DPRK (above)
‘Glad u r [sic] keeping the CIA guy’s ID so subtly concealed…’ a friend commented.
In response Mr Sigley liked the comment, enjoying his friend’s joke.
On other social media posts, he shared photos of North Korean propaganda posters and ‘liked’ comments about the nation’s nuclear weapons.
Mr Sigley’s family released a statement on Thursday afternoon saying they had been unable to confirm that he had been detained.
‘It has not been confirmed that Alek has been detained in the DPRK (Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea),’ the statement read.
‘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.
‘Alek’s family hope to re-establish contact with him soon.’
Mr Sigley, from Perth, has been studying Korean Literature at Kim Il Sung University since April 2018 while also operating a tour company in the communist dictatorship.
He was reported missing earlier this week by friends, according to the ABC.
He has become one of the most prominent Twitter users inside the North Korean capital and has amassed more than 4,000 followers.
Mr Sigley shared photos of himself in a North Korean football uniform last week
Mr Warmbier is taken off the plane in a vegetative state just moments after arriving back in the United States. He died six days later, with his family claiming he was tortured in North Korea
Foreigners have not been detained in North Korea since the death of University of Virginia student Otto Warmbier in 2017
Mr Sigley’s last social media post on June 24 was about the Ryugyong Hotel, which remained famously unfinished after construction was halted in 1992 as North Korea entered an economic crisis.
‘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?’ Mr Sigley’s post read.
‘I’m free to wander around the city, without anyone accompanying me. Interaction with locals can be limited at times, but I can shop and dine almost anywhere I want.’
Mr Sigley’s arrest has sparked fears he may receive the same treatment as American student Otto Warmbier, who was arrested in 2017.
Mr Warmbier, 21, was preparing to return to the U.S when he was detained by guards at Pyongyang International Airport.
It was 18 months later that he returned to his home nation after lengthy negotiations between the U.S government and North Korea.
North Korean authorities dubiously blamed his condition on a bout of food poisoning which they said he suffered in prison and released him on ‘humanitarian grounds’.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed Australian man has reportedly been detained in North Korea – it is urgently seeking clarification
‘As a long-term foreign resident on a student visa, I have nearly unprecedented access to Pyongyang,’ he wrote in an editorial in The Guardian
But despite once being a high school homecoming king, when he touched down on home soil he was not the same.
Mr Warmbier’s parents screamed in shock when they saw him in a vegetative state.
He died within a week of returning to America, with his family claiming he had been tortured and bashed.
In an editorial Mr Sigley wrote for The Guardian, he shared that during his time on a student visa he nearly has ‘unprecedented access to Pyongyang’.
He later shared that he wrote the piece show ‘some of the human side of the country which we rarely get to see’.
Mr Sigley, who has an Australian father and Chinese mother, has been visiting the country for a number of years.
He previously told Sky News he was not concerned about the North Korean government monitoring his social media posts because he was sensible about what he posts online and tried to stay out of trouble.
‘I’ve read up on all these cases in detail and it’s part of my job as a tour guide to understand the culture,’ he said.
‘I’ve never felt threatened and this whole year has been a period of rapprochement.
‘But, talking to students who were here last year when things were really bad and lots of threats were traded, it was totally life as normal.’
Pictured: Alek Sigley’s student ID for the Kim Il Sung University where he is studying Korean Literature
Mr Sigley’s last social media post (pictured) on June 24 was about the Ryugyong Hotel, which remained famously unfinished after construction was halted in 1992 as North Korea entered an economic crisis
He has posted numerous pictures of magazines, restaurants and buildings during his stay in the country.
He also shared photos of himself in a North Korean football uniform last week.
Tweets have included the sorts of food he has tried while in North Korea, such as bear, wild boar and donkey.
Restaurants also offer ostrich, water buffalo, turkey, racoon dog, and badger, he said.
He wrote a blog post in May last year detailing how he had been seated 15 metres away from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the ballet.
He said the leader was greeted with rapturous applause by an ecstatic crowd.
Canberra advises against non-essential travel to North Korea due to the very different laws and regulations affecting foreign visitors and the risks from intermittent threats against international interests.
Australia has no diplomatic mission of its own in Pyongyang and is represented in North Korea by the Swedish embassy.
‘If you decide to travel despite the risks, stay as short a time as possible, eliminate unnecessary activities, and review your security arrangements.’
According to Amnesty International, prisoners who have criticised the regime have been sent to work camps where they are subject to hard labour, starvation, frequent beatings and rape.
What has Alek Sigley been sharing?
Alek Sigley writes a blog where he shares details about life in North Korea.
He wrote that his aim of blogging was ‘simply to present life in North Korea as I see and experience it’.
‘I do not claim for this to be the authoritative or definitive perspective on the country,’ he wrote.
In one post he has shared about the restaurants he has visited in the secretive country.
He revealed that consumers can try bear, wild boar and donkey.
Restaurants also offer ostrich, water buffalo, turkey, racoon dog, and badger, he said.
‘I’ve discovered a number of excellent places to dine in the city,’ he wrote.
In one post he has shared about the restaurants he has visited in the secretive country
‘My dormitory friends (some of the other foreign students) and I have a custom of trying several new restaurants each week.
‘They are sometimes not far from our home in Taesong District, and at other times further afield. A few are the recommendations of local or foreign friends, while others are places we simply stumble into.’
He has also posted about fashion in North Korea, which he claims has been ‘getting more modern’.
In the post he also shared images from a fashion magazine.
Alek Sigley has been posting rare glimpses inside the secretive country where rules around media are notoriously strict
‘The men’s magazine carries out the same function as the women’s: to provide an inventory of state-sanctioned styles, and is also structured in a similar manner, with color photos of models in the front and designs in the back, and the occasional block of text offering fashion advice,’ he wrote.
However, he said the streetwear of the South remains a long way off.
He said the women’s magazine presented clothing as needing to ’embody the innate characteristics of our (Korean) people’. Whereas the men’s magazine dropped the tradition reference.
He wrote a blog post in May last year detailing how he had been seated 15 metres away from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the ballet.
He said the leader was greeted with rapturous applause by an ecstatic crowd.
‘The men’s magazine carries out the same function as the women’s: to provide an inventory of state-sanctioned styles,’ he wrote