Fifty-seven countries in the world, a third of the United Nations, do not recognize Israel. In a way, I think North Korea has better international relations than Israel.
The Korean government is the first to declare that if you replace people with machines you have to pay a tax. It's a tax on robots. They make private companies internalise the social cost of unemployment. Social benefit is not the same as private benefit. We have to realise this.
For years now, we've been hearing about how China is the great copycat nation, the manufacturer of designs drawn up in other countries, and then an imitator for its own products. That's been true, as the developing country followed a path that Japan and then Korea plowed before it.
To survive, China had to open up to the West. It could not survive otherwise. This was after many millions have died of hunger in a country that was like North Korea is today. Once we became part of global competition, we had to agree to some rules. It's painful, but we had to. Otherwise there was no way to survive.
When I first started working with World Vision, I would sit down and talk with them about issues that concern any part of the world. MSF told me about what was going on in North Korea. I also support AIDS and breast cancer charities.
I moved to New York aged 16, and worked part-time in a Korean store in South Bronx selling groceries, bread and confectionery. I earned $10 and it was painful because I didn't want to be there. I also worked in Debenhams as a kid, and a Wimpy in Brighton when I was 20.
Real philosophy is like trying to read an alarm system installation manual in Korean.