Kenneth Bae, one of two Americans freed by North Korea after a secret U.S. mission, arrived home in better-than-expected health, asked for pizza and spent the night telling stories, his sister said.

Bae, a U.S. missionary, had been in deteriorating condition while serving a 15-year sentence to a labor camp for what the North Koreans called plans to overthrow the regime. His captors moved him to a hospital for about six weeks before he learned he was going home, his sister, Terri Chung, told television cameras outside her Seattle-area church.

"They told him there might be something, but I don't think he knew until they told him to pack his bag and get on the plane," she said, noting the family is "still really fuzzy" on how he realized the ordeal was ending. "We are just glad to have him home."