Diplomacy: Beef and Bitter Lemons

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Only in South Korea, the third stop on his Asian tour, is Shultz likely to find the going easy. In the past year there has been a slight improvement in the Seoul government's human rights record, as shown by its release in December of jailed Opposition Leader Kim Dae Jung. The South Koreans have already been reassured that the U.S. has no present intention of reducing its troop commitment there, a subject of controversy during the Carter Administration. In contrast with Tokyo and Peking, where ticklish work faces the Secretary of State, South Korea will be what one of his aides describes as a "classic goodwill stop." By that time, Shultz will presumably need one. —By William E. Smith. Reported by Johanna McGeary and Edwin M. Reingold/Washington