No, this does not mean it’s safe to go to North Korea.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has left Pyongyang with U.S. hostages Kenneth Bae and Preston Somerset Matthew Todd Miller, who voluntarily presented himself to the North Koreans as both a prisoner and a spy.

I’m somewhat sympathetic to Bae, who seems to have been moved to take undue risks by the suffering of the North Korean people around him. Bae has young kids, and nothing Bae did could possibly justify having his kids grow up without their father.

As for Miller, his return and the thought of his possible procreation causes me to mourn for our genetic future. If there was any quid-pro-quo for his release, it would draw immediate comparisons to Bowe Bergdahl. As if to preempt those suspicions, the State Department has already denied that there was any:

The State Department subsequently told CNN that Clapper, who visited Pyongyang as an envoy of President Barack Obama, did not make a ”quid pro quo” offer for the men’s release. [….]

“The United States will probably not admit to talking with North Korea, especially under these circumstances,” said North Korea watcher Christopher Green, also international editor at the Seoul-basedDaily NK.

“We’ll likely never be told the content of the dialogue that goes on in Pyongyang, either, unless North Korea reveals it in a fit of pique at a later date. But at the end of the day James Clapper is a very serious man, and his presence cannot be overlooked,” added Green. [NK News, Chad O’Carroll]

I report and you decide, but I’ve heard the State Department say too many things that later turned out to be false to take their word as given, and North Korea never gives anything away for free. My thoughts now turn to the U.N. General Assembly and Security Council, where U.S. leadership could make the difference between U.N. action that stalls, and action that mobilizes the world to stop North Korea’s crimes against humanity.

Of course, State could always prove me wrong, with a forceful U.S. initiative in favor of an ICC referral of Kim Jong Un.

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Update: Similar thoughts here, at Korea Real Time.

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Update 2: There is something about Kenneth Bae’s sister, Terri Chung, that’s so likable and down-to-earth that I hope this isn’t the last we’ll hear from her. He’s lucky to have her as a sister. She was a tremendous spokeswoman and champion for him.