Story highlights "It's unreal just to see that I'm actually sitting in the studio talking to you," Kenneth Bae tells CNN

Bae gives his first live interview since his release from North Korea in 2014

He was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor over unspecified "hostile acts"

(CNN) Kenneth Bae spent almost two years performing grueling work for the North Korean regime -- and had another decade of hard labor ahead of him.

But he's no longer shoveling coal and hauling rocks. Instead, the American sat down with CNN's Chris Cuomo on Monday for his first live interview since his 2014 release.

"I'm thankful every day and grateful for so many people that were involved in trying to get me home," Bae said. "It's unreal just to see that I'm actually sitting in the studio talking to you ... 735 days in North Korea was long enough. But I'm thankful."

Bae was the longest-held U.S. citizen detained in North Korea since the Korean War. In 2013, he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for committing unspecified "hostile acts" in the country.

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"I worked from 8 a.m. to 6 pm. at night, working on the field, carrying rock, shoveling coal," Bae said on CNN's "New Day."