[222] From June 30 to July 1, 1979, Carter held meetings with president of South Korea Park Chung-hee at the Blue House for a discussion on relations between the U.S. and Korea as well as Carter's interest in preserving his policy of worldwide tension reduction.[223] On April 21, 1978, Carter announced a reduction in American troops in South Korea scheduled to be released by the end of the year by two-thirds, citing a lack of action by Congress in regards to a compensatory aid package for the Seoul Government.[224]

Iran
Main article: Iran hostage crisis
Carter with King Hussein of Jordan and Shah of Iran in 1977
On November 15, 1977, Carter pledged that his administration would continue positive relations between the U.S. and Iran, calling its contemporary status "strong, stable and progressive".[225] When the shah was overthrown, increasingly anti-Americanism came from Iran, which intensified when Carter allowed the shah to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York on October 22, 1979.[226]
On November 4, a group of Iranian students took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. 