Sydney, July 4 (TIWN) Alek Sigley, the student missing in North Korea for more than a week, has been released and is "safe and well," Australias Prime Minister announced on Thursday.

It comes after a meeting between officials from the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang and the North Korean government.  Australia does not have its own embassy in the North Korean capital.  Mr Sigley, 29, was pursuing a master's degree and running a tourism business in Pyongyang.  It is not known why the student, a fluent Korean speaker, had been detained.