With a book called 'Keeping Score,' I really did want to write a book about the Korean War, because I felt that it is the least understood war in the American cultural imagination. So I set out with the idea that Americans didn't know much about the Korean War and that I was going to try to fix a tiny bit of that.

In my family and among Korean-Americans, there just is no occasion that people would get together without bibimbap. It's something that people eat when they're wanting to celebrate or have a good time with friends.

You burn the paper, but not the words. You silence the words, but not the thoughts. You kill the thoughts only if you kill the man. And you will find that his thoughts rise again in the minds of others - twice as strong as before.

All my books take a long time to research. I spend several months researching before I start writing, and in the middle of writing I often have to stop and look up stuff. At my local library, I am one of the best customers! The research takes several months.

What I like most: Reading well-written sources that take me to another world for hours at a time - and being able to call that work! Also, of course, finding a gem of information that is either exactly what I was looking for, or else fits perfectly into the story in some way.

Reading for writers is like training for athletes.

Libraries hold the wisdom of the world and the stories of the ages - available to everyone, free of charge!