Hyeon Soo Lim spoke in Korean to the congregation at a Toronto-area church Sunday during his first public appearance since arriving home.

"He's doing very, very well considering everything he has gone through," said his son, James Lim. "He's in very, very good spirits."

Hyeong Soo Lim was released on what state media described as "sick bail" after being handed a life sentence with hard labour in 2015.

With severed diplomatic ties and no embassy in North Korea, Canada had to designate a third country to protect its interests there.