Sweden has sent a special envoy to North Korea for possible discussions on the whereabouts of an Australian graduate student in the country.

The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency reported on Monday that Kent Rolf Magnus Harstedt, special envoy of the Swedish government, and his party arrived in Pyongyang on Monday.

The report did not elaborate on details of the visit, but the trip comes about a week after 29-year-old Alek Sigley, an Australian graduate student at Pyongyang’s Kim Il-sung University, dropped out of contact with friends and family.

Voice of America reported last week that Sigley was arrested by North Korean authorities around June 24th or 25th, and that the Australian government sought diplomatic assistance from Sweden, which maintains an embassy in Pyongyang.

The Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang often functions as a conduit for diplomatic contact between North Korea and other nations which do not have an official presence in the country.

The U.S. and others have in the past relied on Swedish officials to help secure the release of foreign nationals detained in North Korea.