SEOUL — Baseball in the United States has little chance of being toppled from its "national pastime" status and the major leagues can stand by for World Series-type competition from abroad, Joltin' Joe DiMaggio said here Thursday.

Despite occasional reports of monetary troubles from major league clubs, pro baseball is enjoying increasing popularity every year, but the biggest difference in the game today as compared to 30 or 40 years ago is lack of superstars, DiMaggio said at the end of his two-day visit to Korea.

The "Yankee Clipper," who compiled a lifetime .325 batting average and set playing records that still stand, stopped here after spending a week in Japan with the Lotte Orions pro baseball team there. He worked as batting coach during their spring training.

"They are definitely getting stronger," DiMaggio, who looks every bit as fit as he did when with the powerhouse Yankees of several years back, said of the Japanese leagues. "That's in all phases of the game; hitting, pitching and of course their defense, which they have always had." He added that the two leagues in Japan have kept themselves intact without adding teams, which he feels tends to "water down" pro baseball talent.

He noted that tae Japanese leagues have kept the same number of teams, while in the U.S. the American and National League, once having eight teams each, now have a total 24 clubs.

Speaking on the Japanese leagues, Joltin' Joe said, "so long as the Japanese do not weaken their position, I think shortly that they should be thinking of playing an actual World Series to determine which is the best team."

DiMaggio said that fan reactions, which occasionally have of late bordered on violence, does not show a decline in popularity of major league baseball. He feels that the fans of his day were more "rabid" than today.

He said he was upset with an incident in the 1973 National League playoffs in which Cincinnati Reds fielder Pete Rose was target of beer bottles and other debris from the stands in New York's Shea Stadium. "I was a little disheartened about the whole situation, particularly New York fans, who I have often said and still say are the greatest fans in the world." He explained that the incident and others similar were emotional in nature, and shortly after they occurred the same fans expressed regret.

Bottle-chucking was around in Joe's day too. He said there were times when all outfielders felt they were in jeopardy, particularly if they were on the road. "I have seen incidents when I was playing ball where they had bottles thrown on the field because the umpire made what fans thought was a bad decision."

"It's not an easy thing to stay out there like Pete Rose did and have bottles come alongside of him. Naturally he is going to have to go into that dugout and look for protection," he continued.

DiMaggio explained the absence of superstars in the majors today as due to rising popularity of other sports. "We have so many other sports that have come on so strong, like football, hockey and basketball." He added that colleges, long the bastion of talent for pro sports, now offer a wide spectrum of athletics, in contrast to an almost exclusive baseball program.

"All the different pro sports organizations are always sending out for more talent, so I guess these kids today might possibly have their hearts set on one particular sport, in many cases where money speaks."

"They will sign where they can get the must money out of the deal," he continued.

Big money demanded more and more these days by players is not hurting the sport, he feels. He said arbitration is good to a point, but ballplayers put themselves in jeopardy when dealing with clubowners directly and should rather deal among themselves.

"A clubowner today is going to worry about sending a contract which would not be the right amount of what the man is worth," he said. He added that clubowners generally try to avoid arbitration as the ballplayers set their terms higher than when on contract terms.

"So long as the clubowners are willing to pay, I don't have any reason to say otherwise why ballplayers should not accept this kind of money," he said.

In explaining the continued success of the Oakland A's who have experienced repeated incidents of internal friction, DiMaggio said they are a team on the field. "They play as a unit." He added that with their high salaries, they and other major leaguers must give 100 per cent on the field. "And I think they do," he said.

DiMaggio said he feels that whatever success Frank Robinson, former Cincinnati Red's slugging outfielder and first black manager in the majors, has with the Cleveland Indians will not necessarily hasten additional black managers to ball clubs.

"I think if the general manager running a ball club feels that there is a black man who has the ability to manage, that will be entirely up to him to select him."

DiMaggio said he is still in New York, where so many years ago he powered the Yankees to nine world championships, starting a dynasty that extended beyond his own career. He now works as spokesman for a bank and coffee company in New York. "Plus I'm playing an awful lot of golf," he said, explaining he has toured the Pro-Am circuit.

While in the Far East, DiMaggio also visited baseball officials in Taiwan and observed their Little League program there.

He spent Wednesday afternoon with 2nd Inf. Div. units north of here at Camps Casey, Howze and Stanley. He saw a new sport, combat basketball. Played among units from the 122nd Signal Bn., the 1/17th Inf. and the 15th Field Artillery. After each 10-minute exhibition, he spoke briefly with the division soldiers, sharing some baseball anecdotes and personal experiences from his 1933-1951 major league career. He left for Japan Thursday afternoon and will return to the United States early next week.