Terakoshi expresses wish to visit Japan again, mother says+

KANAZAWA, Japan, Jan. 24 Kyodo - Takeshi Terakoshi, who has lived in North Korea since disappearing while fishing in the Sea of Japan in 1963 at age 13, has expressed his wish to visit Japan again, his mother said Saturday.

At a meeting with supporters in Kanazawa, Tomoe, 77, played a recording of her
59-year-old son's voice, taken when she visited him in Pyongyang earlier this
month. He came to Japan in October 2002 for the first time since his
disappearance.
In the four-minute recording, Terakoshi said in Japanese, ''If the Japanese
government will guarantee my safety, I want to visit Japan again. It is really
sad that I cannot freely go there when I am in the nearest country.''
Tomoe asked for cooperation from her supporters in realizing his second
homecoming trip.
She has visited North Korea frequently to meet her son, and the latest trip was
her 50th.
Terakoshi, who went missing at that time along with his father and uncle, has
insisted he was not abducted but rescued by North Korean fishermen.