In November, American citizen Kenneth Bae was arrested on his way into North Korea. In April, he was sentenced to 15 years hard labor for “hostile acts against the regime.” On Wednesday, he pleaded for help.

Looking haggard, in a uniform identifying him as Prisoner #103, a shaven-headed Ken Bae (Pae Jun Ho to the North Korean authorities) appeared in an edited, eight-minute video interview made by Choson Sinbo, a pro-North Korean group based in Japan, and released to CNN.

“I know that my family is working hard to improve the situation with the DPRK and U.S. governments,” Bae said