Released Australian student mum on his detention

Alek Sigley arrives at Haneda International airport in Tokyo on Friday, following his release from North Korea. Pic /AFP

Tokyo: An Australian student on Friday thanked Swedish and his country's diplomats for securing his release in North Korea but kept mum about what led to his weeklong detention.

"I intend now to return to normal life but wanted to first publicly thank everyone who worked to ensure I was safe and well," Alek Sigley said in a statement released by his family's spokeswoman in Australia, a day after he was flown from Pyongyang to Beijing and then Tokyo to be reunited with his Japanese wife. He asked media to respect his privacy and said he has no plans to hold a news conference.

Sigley, 29, had been studying at a Pyongyang university and guiding tours in the North Korean capital before disappearing from social media contact with family and friends on May 28. He had posted about his experiences in North Korea and boasted about the extraordinary freedom he had as one of the few foreign students living there. "I just want everyone to know I am OK, and to thank them for their concern for my well-being and their support for my family over the past week. I'm very happy to be back with my wife, Yuka, and to have spoken with my family in Perth (Australia) to reassure them I'm well," he said in the statement.

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