21 May 2019
(Japanese language) Interview with Tongil Tours founder and MA student at Kim Il Sung University Alek Sigley published in Harbor Business Online.
31 March 2019
Tongil Tours founder Alek Sigley writes an op-ed for The Guardian’s Comment is Free section on his life as a foreign student at Kim Il Sung University.
15 March 2019
Interview with Tongil Tours founder Alek and his wife Yuka on their experiences in North Korea for Choson Shinbo, a newspaper for ethnic Koreans in Japan (Japanese language article).
26 February 2019
Tongil Tours founder Alek talks with Patrick Winn on PRI’s The World about his experiences as a Western foreign student at Kim Il Sung University (text and audio).
29 December 2018
Alix Culbertson from Sky News talks to Tongil Tours founder Alek about life as a foreign student at Kim Il Sung University in North Korea.
14 December 2018
Interview with Tongil Tours founder Alek Sigley on his life as a foreign student at Kim Il Sung University in the Dutch Daily (Dutch language article).
2 December 2018
Tongil Tours founder Alek Sigley and wife Yuka appear on Zainichi (Japanese) Korean Youtube talk show U-Waves to talk with host Yeongi Park about their experiences in North Korea. Conversation is in Japanese and Korean but an English subtitled version was released on the 2nd of December 2018. The original Japanese subtitled version came out on the 27th of January 2018.
16 June 2018
Tongil Tours founder and postgraduate student at Kim Il Sung University Alek Sigley’s blog post on the North Korea-US Summit is covered in Chinese and Japanese media. Japanese Mainichi Shimbun (毎日新聞: 大学生「米へ警戒緩めるな」 留学生ブログで紹介). Chinese DWNEWS (多维新闻: 在朝澳留学生揭秘朝鲜大学生眼中的特金会).
8 June 2018
Tongil Tours founder Alek Sigley interviewed in DW about his blog documenting foreign student life at Kim Il Sung University (in German and Bulgarian).
8 April 2018
Tongil Tours founding partner Alek Sigley addresses a letter to Donald Trump about his wedding in Pyongyang.
25 January 2018
Tongil Tours founding partner Alek Sigley talks about youth culture in North Korea with Vice.
22 January 2018
In-depth podcast interview with Tongil Tours founder Alek Sigley on Settlers of Seoul.
21 December 2017
Our very own Nikolai Johnsen features in his own segment on South Korean TV channel EBS, where he talks about his travels in North Korea (in Korean).
6 November 2017
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation screens a TV interview with Alek Sigley, and releases this accompanying online news article. Please note that Tongil Tours does not entirely agree with the somewhat sensational editorial slant of the article or the rather idealistic opinions of the other person they interviewed.
8 September 2017
Alek Sigley interviewed for an article in The Australian on Australia and regional tensions.
5 July 2017
Caught in the ACT, a radio show based in the Australian Capital Territory interviews Alek Sigley about Tongil Tours.
26 May 2017
Nikolai Johnsen does a Travel Style FAQ with Johnny Jet, explaining how he travels in style.
4 May 2017
Ali Mau from New Zealand’s Radio Live talks to Alek Sigley about what it’s like to be in North Korea.
29 April 2017
Tongil Tours founding partner Alek Sigley talks to Glynn Greensmith on ABC Radio’s Its Just not cricket about tourism in North Korea (Soundcloud link here).
24 April 2017
ABC Radio Perth interviews Tongil Tours founding partner Alek Sigley on running tours to North Korea.
17 April 2017
Australia’s Courier Mail interviews Tongil Tours founding partner Alek Sigley on political tensions in the Korean peninsula.
8 March 2017
Piece in Malaysia’s New Straits Times on Tongil Tours expert partner and landscape photographer Reuben Teo’s experiences in North Korea.
1 March 2017
Article in The Diplomat Magazine by Tongil Tours founding partner Alek Sigley on North Korea’s nascent consumer culture.
24 February 2017
Tongil Tours partner Peter Sukonek interviewed by Danish newspaper Weekendavisen about the Art and Architecture tour that he leads.
13 February 2017
News.com.au interview with Tongil Tours founding partner Alek Sigley about Tongil Tours.
21 November 2016
NKNews interviews Tongil Tours founding partner Alek Sigley about the inaugural Korean language program that was run in Pyongyang during July/August 2016.
15 September 2016
SBS Australia shares Tongil Tours founding partner Alek Sigley’s story published in the Huffington Post Australia on his experiences as the first Australian to study in North Korea. A Korean translation with audio is also provided.
13 September 2016
666 ABC Radio Canberra’s Adam Shirley interviews Tongil Tours founding partner Alek Sigley on his experiences as the first Australian to study in North Korea.
9 September 2016
Tongil Tours founding partner Alek Sigley interviewed by ABC News Radio on his experiences as the first Australian to study in North Korea.
6 September 2016
Huffington Post Australia publishes this piece by Tongil Tours founding partner Alek Sigley on his experiences as the first Australian to study in a North Korean university.
23 June 2016
Tongil Tours founding partner Alek Sigley coauthors with Dr Eun Jeong Soh this piece in East Asia Forum on the 2016 Korean Worker’s Party Congress.
17 May 2016
Piece in ETB Travel News Australia on Tongil Tours.
27 April 2016
Tongil Tours founding partner Alek Sigley interviewed for this NK News piece on US tourism to North Korea.
22 March 2016
Dani Bernstein of the Cavalier Daily, the University of Virginia’s student paper, interviews Tongil Tours founding partner Alek Sigley for this piece on the unfortunate detainment of a US student in North Korea.
16 January 2016
Lesley Parker writes some of her observations from one of our tours for the Australian Financial Review.
14 January 2016
Tongil Tours founding partner Alek Sigley writes an account of his life spent in both North and South Korea for the Australia Korea Foundation’s blog. Republished on the Australia Korea Foundation’s website here on the 5th of December, 2017.
2015
Jarni Blakkarly of What in the World? spoke to Alek Sigley from Tongil Tours, who has travelled extensively through North Korea, about what life is really like there.
March 12 2015
Tongil Tours founding partner Alek Sigley was interviewed for this NK News article on fashion in North Korea by anthropologist Markus Bell.
January 29 2015
This fascinating piece on tattoo culture in North Korea by Markus Bell, published in The Guardian, makes use of one of our photos.
January 27 2015
Indigenous Australian director Ivan Sen and director of Tongil Tours Alek Sigley were interviewed for this SBS news article on their attendance of the 14th Pyongyang International Film Festival in September 2014. Tongil Tours facilitated a screening of Ivan’s newest film Mystery Road at the festival, and accompanied Ivan to attend.
December 26 2014
This piece on our attendance of the Pyongyang International Film Festival in September 2014 was published in the ABC’s The Drum. It can also be viewed at the ABC’s Radio Australia website.
October 7 2014
While attending the 14th Pyongyang International Film Festival in September we were interviewed by a journalist from Choson Sinbo, a Japan-based newspaper published by the General Association of Korean Residents (often abbreviated as “Chongryon”). In the subsequent piece (which is in Japanese), we give our thoughts on the importance of cultural exchange.
October 2014
Melbourne’s E-Magazine published an interview with Tongil Tours founder Alek Sigley. The article also showcases arresting travel photography taken inside North Korea.
July 24 2014
Australian National University student newspaper The Woroni carried a piece of commentary on popular perceptions of North Korea, and Tongil Tours’ role in cultivating a more nuanced understanding of the country by Tongil Tours founder Alek Sigley.
January 10 2014
The October Woroni piece by two of our September trip participants on their experience in North Korea was republished on the ANU website and shared on ANU’s official Facebook feed.
October 2013
Australian National University student newspaper the Woroni carried an article on our September 2013 trip written by two of its participants.
The online version can be seen here.
