Australian govt seeks information about man detained in North Korea

Australia's foreign affairs department said on Thursday it was seeking urgent clarification of media reports that an Australian man had been detained in North Korea. "The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance ... to the family of an Australian man who has been reported as being detained in North Korea," a spokesman said in a statement.

"The Department is urgently seeking clarification," he said. The government did not identify the person reported to be detained, citing privacy obligations.

However, Australian and South Korean media identified the detained man as Alek Sigley, a 29-year-old university student in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.