KR Australian student reportedly detained in North Korea - Here we go again

Australian student reportedly detained in North Korea

Australia on Thursday said it was “urgently seeking clarification” about reports that one of its citizens had been detained in North Korea.

www.telegraph.co.uk

Australia on Thursday said it was “urgently seeking clarification” about reports that one of its citizens had been detained in North Korea.

Korean-language media named the man as Alek Sigley, 29, one of only a handful of Western students at Kim Il Sung university, who also runs Tongil Tours, a company which has specialised since 2013 in educational and cultural exchanges in North Korea for groups of foreign tourists.

Mr Sigley, who has been a resident of Pyongyang since early 2018 and who is believed to be the only Australian living in the hermit kingdom, studies contemporary North Korean literature and has written regularly for Western media outlets about his day to day experiences.

Reports of his disappearance began to emerge on social media late on Wednesday evening. The Australian media on Thursday reported that friends of Mr Sigley, who hails from Perth in western Australia, had reported him missing earlier this week.

The Australian foreign ministry would not confirm his identity but said in a statement that it was providing consular assistance to “the family of an Australian man who has been reported as detained in North Korea.” It added: “Owing to our privacy obligations we will not provide further comment.”

Australia does not have an official diplomatic presence in North Korea, but consular assistance would be provided in this case by Sweden.

A spokesperson for the Swedish foreign ministry told The Telegraph that Sweden “is aware of the matter and is dealing with it within the framework of our bilateral agreement with Australia.” The official said the ministry would “not comment on individual consular cases.”

The treatment of foreign citizens, most usually from the United States, by the secretive North has been a contentious issue over the years. Some have been held as prisoners for extended periods.

The death of American student Otto Warmbier in 2017, who had fallen into a coma during his 17-month detention for allegedly trying to steal a propaganda poster raised tensions between Washington and Pyongyang, who were already edging closer to war over the North’s nuclear weapons programme.

Those tensions were somewhat relieved by a historic summit between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump, the US president, on nuclear disarmament, but US citizens remain subject to a travel ban to North Korea.

The latest incident will likely dominate the agenda of Scott Morrison, the Australian prime minister, when he travels to Japan for the G20 summit from Friday. Morrison is expected to meet Trump during the trip to discuss, among other things, North Korea.
The normally prolific Twitter account run by Mr Sigley fell silent two days ago. His last tweet made reference to the possible opening of the pyramid-shaped Ryugyong hotel in central Pyongyang.

Mr Sigley’s social media account focussed largely on providing snippets of daily life inside North Korea where, as a student, he had more leeway to roam the capital city than visitors on strictly-controlled tours.

Recently he posted pictures of North Korea’s Olympic uniforms and multiple photos of food, revealing that kimchi and chocolate pizzas were readily available in Pyongyang restaurants.

Earlier this year he wrote a series of columns for the NK News website about his experiences in Pyongyang, ranging from observations on restaurants to fashion trends.
The site reported that friends and family of Mr Sigley, a fluent Mandarin and Korean speaker, had been unable to reach him since Tuesday morning, adding that there were no details about why he may have been suddenly detained.

“Sigley is an astute and valuable observer of North Korea issues and we are surprised by reports of his sudden detention,” said Chad O’Carroll, CEO of the Korea Risk Group, which produces NK News. “We sincerely hope a rapid release can be secured by relevant authorities”.
Before studying in the North, Mr Sigley had visited the country multiple times as a tour operator and chose to host his wedding to his Japanese-born wife in Pyongyang.

In an article in the Guardian in March he wrote of his interactions with local students and how North Korea was a country in transition, with a growing number of mobile phone users.

“As a long-term foreign resident on a student visa, I have nearly unprecedented access to Pyongyang. 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,” he said.

Mr Sigley last year told Sky News that he was not concerned about being monitored as he was sensible about online posts. "I've never felt threatened and this whole year has been a period of rapprochement,” he said.

 

[not william stenchever]

“As a long-term foreign resident on a student visa, I have nearly unprecedented access to Pyongyang. 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,” he said.

That's adorable. He thought he wasn't being constantly tailed by the secret police. I wonder what he said or did that crossed the line into subversive activity and/or espionage. Considering the article talks about he'd take pictures of things in Pyongyang and put them on social media, I'm guessing he took a photo that is not at all flattering to Best Korea.

 

[Terminus Est]

I don't feel sorry for these people. They know how fucked up NK is. Yet they still go there.

 

[break these cuffs]

I don't feel sorry for these people. They know how fucked up NK is. Yet they still go there.

I've done some extremely dangerous and rather exceptional things in my life and I've considered, but ultimately did not go through with others like visiting NK or or becoming a war tourist for one simple reason. When you do shit like go to North Korea or join the PKK in Syria, you have no back up. You have no out and the consequences are the most dire you can think of. Sure the State Department will probably get to your ass eventually, but good fucking luck until then. Hope you enjoy getting tortured and maybe you won't be dead before something happens.

Shit's fun until it's not fun anymore.

 

[Heartmoth]

I bet they'll release him eventually after some investigation.
Not every day you get a foreigner gullible enough to serve the DPRK by making positive media publicity.
And you'd have to be a total idiot to risk your life just to prove everything we already know about the country.

 

[Clop]

Clearly the guy never read the Axis of Evil World Tour story.

http://axisofevilworldtour.com/nk-main.htm

 

[Exigent Circumcisions]

They can detain their own citizens whenever they want. Stop being so interventionist, guise.

Edit: I'm an idiot and thought it said Hong Kong. Please rate me autistic and/or dumb.

Edit #2: tfw people just rate you feels instead. Thanks, fags.

 

[Piss Clam]

I bet they'll release him eventually after some investigation.
Not every day you get a foreigner gullible enough to serve the DPRK by making positive media publicity.
And you'd have to be a total idiot to risk your life just to prove everything we already know about the country.

I'm sure they investigated the shit out of otto.

Otto Warmbier - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

@break these cuffs
I've done some extremely dangerous and rather exceptional things in my life and I've considered, but ultimately did not go through with others like visiting NK or or becoming a war tourist for one simple reason. When you do shit like go to North Korea or join the PKK in Syria, you have no back up. You have no out and the consequences are the most dire you can think of. Sure the State Department will probably get to your ass eventually, but good fucking luck until then. Hope you enjoy getting tortured and maybe you won't be dead before something happens.

Shit's fun until it's not fun anymore.

Some people thrive on dangerous shit, and live to tell about it. I suppose you just have to know how to talk your way out of things.

see: robert pelton

Come Back Alive

www.comebackalive.com

https://www.comebackalive.com/category/dangerous-places/

Robert Pelton - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Scarlett Johansson]

For fucks sake DONT GO TO NORTH KOREA

I have no sympathy. Yeah its horrible what otto went through and it's sad that hes dead but the dumbass clearly should have known not to go to North Korea. Fuck.

 

[RetardedCat]

I'll bet anything he's been secret police'd after talking too much about freedom to the locals.
What the fuck goes through anyone's mind to live in a fucking country where you can be disappeared for not liking the shoes the leader wore last Tuesday.

 

[Exigent Circumcisions]

I'll bet anything he's been secret police'd after talking too much about freedom to the locals.
What the fuck goes through anyone's mind to live in a fucking country where you can be disappeared for not liking the shoes the leader wore last Tuesday.

It's a massive virtue signal, basically.

"Look, I'm respecting their culture and they're treating me fine! You guys are just close-mi... brb somebody's at the door..."
-shouting and sounds of struggle in background-
"No!! I'm on your team!! NOOOOO!!"

 

[whatever I feel like]

"Japanese born wife" is code for North Korean, fwiw. Most of Japan's Korean community look to the north instead of the south for historical reasons (it unironically was best Korea back in the 40s and 50s) and, indeed, are North Korean citizens since Japan does not have birthright citizenship.

 

[LocalFireDept]

You have to be a special kind of individual to want to go to a known facist state for any period of time. Leave it to pineapple upside-down land, I suppose.

 

[mindlessobserver]

Anyone who goes to North Korea deserves what they get. Nobody should go to North Korea. The US has recently even made it illegal to travel to north korea for US citizens. Feds have gotten tired of having to constantly bail out speds.

 

[Exigent Circumcisions]

Anyone who goes to North Korea deserves what they get. Nobody should go to North Korea. The US has recently even made it illegal to travel to north korea for US citizens. Feds have gotten tired of having to constantly bail out speds.

Tfw even the US won't World Police for you.

 

[Anonymous For This]

Anyone who goes to North Korea deserves what they get. Nobody should go to North Korea. The US has recently even made it illegal to travel to north korea for US citizens. Feds have gotten tired of having to constantly bail out speds.

Dont blame them. Even in Communist China, you have to be a pretty exceptional person to get locked up if you're a foreigner. Deal drugs or talk mad shit about the regime while in country. Even with talking shit, their solution is almost always sending you on a flight home and being told not to come back. Granted you just absolutely fucked any relations you might have had in China, because they're going to be receiving some very unfriendly visitors. Outside of being an actual crim, you have to do some real instigating to be designated Honorary Uigher.

In Best Korea, you can serve 40 years breaking big rocks into little rocks for stepping on dinner the grass.

 

[mindlessobserver]

In Best Korea, you can serve 40 years breaking big rocks into little rocks for stepping on dinner the grass.

You don't even have to do anything. They might need a hostage for another round of negotiations they are planning with your country.

 

[Enthusiast]

Am I being detained?

Seriously though not sure what this guy was expecting, especially given how quickly that regime seems to turn on people deemed 'untrustworthy'.

 

[MirnaMinkoff]

There’s a very strange type of guy who fan boys NK and vies to become the regieme’s very favorite white boy on the ground. They tend to operate tours for foreigners, but this guy being a “student” there is a new one for me.

There used to be this bizarre dude from Spain that made himself a NK goodwill ambassador. He ran tours too and was always ready to give NK blow jobs in the media. He dressed like a comical fascist right out of Pink Floyd’s “The Wall.” I wonder what he’s up to these days. Being NK favorite errand boy is generally a short lived occupation. (I think Spanish dude licked the ass of the very dead Kim il Sung. Doubt he made a smooth transition to licking his son’s ass)

 

[thx1138]

The only thing I want from North Korea is the goddamn USS Pueblo. Personally I think we should send in the PacFlt. to take it back and dare the Norks to even so much as flinch when we show up for it.

We used B52s, a tank brigade, and South Koreans willingly draped themselves in claymore suicide vests to protect a team cutting down two trees that were blocking LOS in a critical point along the DMZ, no reason we can't do something just as dramatic.

Maybe we can sweeten it for them, leave a container ship full of frozen quarter pounders, hennessy and dunhills for Norky Pig.