"I want to thank you all for supporting me and standing by me through this time," he said. It has been a tremendously difficult time for my family and there have been so many people helping them to stand strong. He thanked not only President Obama, but also the North Korean regime for allowing him to return home. It's been an amazing two years. I learned a lot, I grew a lot, I lost a lot of weight," he said. Last month, another American, Jeffrey Fowle, 56, from Ohio, was also released by the North Koreans. Analysts who study North Korea said the decision to free Mr Bae and Mr Miller now from long prison terms probably was a bid by the country to ease pressure in connection with its human rights record. A recent UN report documented rape, torture, executions and forced labor in the North's network of prison camps, accusing the government of "widespread, systematic and gross" human rights violations. North Korea seems worried that Kim could be accused in the International Criminal Court, said Sue Mi Terry, a former senior intelligence analyst now at Columbia University. Bruce Klingner, a former CIA analyst now at the Heritage Foundation, agreed that efforts to shine a spotlight on the country's human rights record "startled the regime and led to frantic attempts to derail the process."