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I'm a fan of books that are almost languorous in their storytelling. That is a little bit lost sometimes in the modern media that we have.

In Korean, my lyrics are witty and have twists. But translated into English, it doesn't come over. I've tried writing in English, just for me, but it doesn't work. I've got to know everything about a culture, and I don't.

I thought that, with so much current attention focused on the topic of North Korea, I might share what I think are three books which cast a rare light on the elusive realm of North Korea.

Obviously, I've made several films in Korea, so I'm very well accustomed and acclimated to Korean filmmaking.

My daughter likes Korean drama more than I do.

I wanted to write about the Korean War, but I had no entry into it that made the kind of sense it needs to make for a novelist.

I read 'Sabella or The Blood Stone' by Tanith Lee, which was hugely influential to me. I love Tanith's writing. She's just really lyrical, beautiful use of language.

I've done a lot of books with Asian antecedents to them - some of my fantasy novels have been that way, and certainly in the 'Battletech' universe, there's a lot of Asian culture in that.

When I was a teenager, I thought how great it would be if only I could write novels in English. I had the feeling that I would be able to express my emotions so much more directly than if I wrote in Japanese.

Chinese readers are buying books in translation, particularly non-fiction about China, in large numbers.