MP who's visited North Korea claims arrested Australian exchange student will have been beaten in jail by now - and says Julie Bishop should fly to Pyongyang to get him freed
- Former federal Liberal MP Michael Johnson has visited North Korea three times
- He suspected North Korean officials would have slapped Alek Sigley on the face
- Mr Johnson offered to go to Pyongyang with ex-foreign minister Julie Bishop
Former Liberal MP Michael Johnson (pictured) who has visited North Korea is convinced Australian exchange student Alek Sigley would have been beaten in detention by now
A former Liberal MP who has visited North Korea is convinced Australian exchange student Alek Sigley would have been beaten in detention by now.
Michael Johnson went to Pyongyang three times to see life in the secretive communist state after Australia had shelved plans for an embassy there.
The former Liberal backbencher, who is now a Brisbane-based business leader, suspected the North Korean authorities would have physically punished Mr Sigley for possibly mocking Kim Jong-un's authoritarian regime.
'He would very realistically have been beaten up, been slapped around the face,' Mr Johnson told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday.
'I certainly don't discount him having been physically hit, physically abused.
'My sense is that he may have been physically abused but I don't think he would have been really tortured or anything like that. I wouldn't buy into that view yet.'
Mr Johnson, who is now the chairman of Orbitz Elevators, has offered to fly to North Korea with former foreign minister Julie Bishop in a bid to free Mr Sigley, who hails from Perth originally.
The former Liberal backbencher, who is now a Brisbane-based business leader, suspected the North Korean authorities would have physically punished Australian exchange student Alek Sigley (pictured with his Japanese wife Yuka Morinaga) for possibly mocking the Kim Jong-Un's authoritarian regime
He suggested Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Foreign Minister Marise Payne make use of his diplomatic connections, from his three visits to North Korea in 2006, 2007 and 2009.
'I've just reached out to Julie Bishop today to try and persuade her again for her and I to go to North Korea and get this Australian out of detention if he in fact is in detention,' he said.
'It would be more appropriate that a former foreign minister reach out to North Korea rather than a current, elected official.
Share this article
'That's just the way diplomacy works and it would be a huge step and it would go down really well.
'I'm happy to go there and represent the Australian government now to start the conversation, the negotiations to bring this man home.'
Mr Johnson said Australia had destroyed its chances of freeing Mr Sigley by shelving in 2002 plans to open an embassy in Pyongyang.
'Australia has absolutely zero influence in North Korea and I can reach out to North Korea more than any Australian politician can or Australian diplomat,' he said.
Mr Johnson suggested the Australian send himself and former foreign minister Julie Bishop (pictured left with boyfriend David Panton) to North Korea to free Mr Sigley
Mr Sigley, an Australian masters student, has been detained in North Korea for liking a Facebook post about him about him being mates with American spies just weeks before he was detained.
The 29-year-old married man is believed to be the only Australian living in North Korea.
He went missing this week after a series of posts on social media about life in the secretive nation's capital, Pyongyang.
His arrest occurred a year after marrying his Japanese-born wife Yuka Morinaga.
Mr Sigley arrived in the country as an exchange student, before starting up a business offering guided tours.
Mr Johnson said it was unlikely Mr Sigley would have been detained just for posting something on social media, but hinted he faced being killed if he had personally insulted the Supreme Leader of North Korea.
'If he's done something really, really silly that personally abused the name of Kim Jong-un then that's a different story altogether,' he said.
'No one survives that sort of thing. Kim Jong-un kills his own family.'
American university student Otto Warmbier died in June 2017, 18 months after he was imprisoned and then released back to the United States following his attempt to steal a propaganda poster from his hotel.
Mr Sigley, an Australian masters student, has been detained in North Korea for liking a Facebook post about him about him being mates with American spies just weeks before he was detained
Comments 0
Share what you think
No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.
