TOKYO, Aug, 3 (UPI-OP)-Northern Korea sorely needs manpower of Koreans to be repatriated to Communist Korea from Japan, Gov. Kazuo Kitamura of Niigata prefecture said today.
Kitamura, who visited northern Korea for a few days last month on route back to Japan from Russia, said this was emphasized to him by Li IL Kyung, Vice- President of the Northern Korean "Red Cross" association ;
Too Few People
Li, Kitamura said told him northern Korea had a population of only 10 million and needed more manpower. He declared that is one reason why northern Korea wanted to expediate therepatriation of Koreans from Japan,
Japan initialed in Geneva last month an agreement under which more than 100,000 Koreans -- by Pyongyang 's estimate -- would return to northern Korea of their "own free will,"
With the Republic of Korea heatedly attacking the agreement, Japan has hold off final signing of the agreement pending some indication from the International Red Cross that it is willing to oversee the program in order to insure that all repatriates are going home willingly.
Selected Port
Niigata, capital of the prefecture of which Kitamura is Governor, has already been selected as the port of "repatriation" from Japan.
Kitamura wrote of his visit to northern Korea in an article which appoared today in the newspaper Tokyo Shimbum.
He reperted northern Korean authorities told him they wore prepared to absorb the newcomers into farm cooperatives and have already started building housing units for them.
Kitamura visited apartment houses, factories, and farming communities during his briof visit.