New footage of Kenneth Bae, an American citizen imprisoned in North Korea, details his concern over his health now that he has returned to his labor camp, CNN reported.
"I know if I continue for the next several months here, I will probably be sent back to the hospital again," Bae is heard saying in a video of a conversation with Swedish diplomat Cecilia Anderberg recorded Friday.
The conversation was published by Choson Sinbo, a pro-North Korea newspaper in Japan, which has been given access to Bae previously.
He also told Anderberg that he lost ten pounds since he got back to the camp, following a stay in the hospital, and says that he hopes North Korea will allow a U.S. envoy to visit and discuss his release. Bae also asks Anderberg to tell his family that "I have not lost hope and have not given up anything."
However, the State Department announced on Sunday that North Korea took back their agreement to allow U.S. Ambassador Robert King in the country, without a reason.
Hours after their announcement, the Korean Central News Agency said that former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Donald Gregg arrived in Pyongyang but did not specify why.
Jen Psaki, spokeswoman for the State Department, added that U.S. civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson offered to travel to Pyongyang "on a humanitarian mission focused on Bae's release."
Bae, 45, of Washington, was arrested in 2012 and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor following accusations of plotting against the North Korean government, specifically through Christian missionary work.
