So there's an underlying assumption she's using that the North Koreans
>are doing this because he's white. They're not. There are
>South Koreans being held in work camps for similar offences.

She's drawing a parallel between how he must be feeling and how she feels on daily basis. He feels helpless because he's in a country where the government doesn't care about his feelings/situation. She's in a country where the government doesn't care about hers. That's the parallel she's drawing.