13 JANUARY 1973, Page 5

Tidy package

A correspondent tells me that he hears from a top man in Korea that there are strong rumours in Seoul that there will be a formal peace treaty in Korea at the same time as a formal Vietnamese one. Thus, with a German peace treaty also on the cards, it is possible that East and West Germany, North and South Vietnam and North and South Korea will all take their places in the UN simultaneously, and that Switzerland — still not a member — is now ready to have its arm twisted. It's a neat scenario, although I am less optimistic than my correspondent that the new members will do the UN much good.