With little word emerging from North Korea regarding the whereabouts or condition of missing Australian Alek Sigley, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has turned to, would you believe, “prayers” as his official, diplomatic response.
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Perth-born Alek Sigley, who has been living and studying in Pyongyang since last year, hasn’t been heard from since last early last week, raising concerns from family who assert the lengthy silence is “highly unusual.” The fear is the 29-year-old may have been taken by DPRK authorities.
Speaking this morning, Prime Minister Morrison updated media on his Government’s official position on the matter, which for the time being rests somewhere comparable to “US Republican politician’s default response to mass shooting.”
Morrison asserted that while he was receiving “regular updates,” his official response for the time being is, frankly, not much.
I’m seeking and receiving regular updates but in the absence of those, and indeed regardless of those, prayer is my response
This morning there are many prayers and I must say my prayers this morning are for Alek Sigley and his family. This is a troubling and concerning situation and we are using every effort to locate him and hopefully bring him home safely.
Cool!
Sigley has been studying a master’s in Korean literature at Kim Il-sung University in Pyongyang. While living in the deeply secretive nation, he’s managed to post semi-regular updates in western media, including a glowing but nonetheless comprehensive look at daily Pyongyang life in The Guardian this past March.
The Prime Minister reportedly discussed Sigley’s disappearance with other world leaders at last week’s G20 meeting in Japan.
