Updated

The sister of detained American missionary Kenneth Bae says she had a mixed reaction watching her brother talk to news media at a hospital in North Korea, where he's been held for more than a year.

Terri Chung says in a statement Monday that she was glad he appeared to be in good health but saddened to see him wearing an inmate's uniform.

She says the family is concerned for his health and could "see that he was distressed."

She calls on the U.S. government to step up its efforts to secure his release and pleaded for mercy from North Korea.

Bae was arrested in November 2012 while leading a tour group and accused of crimes against the state before being sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. He was moved to a hospital last summer.