When Australian student Alek Sigley was released from North Korea last Thursday morning, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison expressed his “deepest gratitude to the Swedish authorities for their invaluable assistance.”

Sweden’s foreign minister Margot Wallström said, in turn, “Sweden has done its utmost to work for Mr Sigley.” 

While some say Europe has turned inward and is more concerned with Atlantic affairs than Pacific, this episode highlights that, when it comes to diplomacy with North Korea, “the old continent” has an under-appreciated role to play.

The possibility for starkly different futures