I think the logic might be slightly on the guy's side. My take is NK will make sure he kept in a good conditions, possibly exposed to some made-up farmers view

I think the logic might be slightly on the guy's side. My take is NK will make sure he kept in a good conditions, possibly exposed to some made-up farmers views playing "hard labor prisoners" to make sure he will eventually report that no atrocities are taking place and with eventual return already planned for him on a horizon. Not to say that actual NK citizen's lifetime for equal "offense" will likely be drastically shorter. Letting US citizen to die in NK is not going to have a healthy consequences for "the leader" and he realizes this pretty well.