The South Korean author of I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokbokki has died at the age of 35

Baek Se-hee, the South Korean bestselling author of I Want to Die but I Want To Eat Tteokbokki, has died at the age of 35.

Her 2018 book, a compilation of conversations with her psychiatrist about her depression, was a cultural phenomenon with its themes of mental health resonating with readers around the world.

Originally written in Korean, it gained international recognition following the publication of its English translation in 2022.

Details surrounding her death are unclear.

Baek donated his organs – his heart, lungs, liver and kidneys – which helped save five lives, the Korea Organ Donation Agency said in a statement on Friday.

The statement also included comments from her sister, who said Baek wanted to “share her heart with others through her work and inspire hope.”

I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki, published in 2018, has sold more than one million copies worldwide and has been translated into 25 countries.

The improbable bestseller was known for normalizing conversations about mental health and for its nuanced look at internal struggles — most notably the author’s personal conflict between depressive thoughts and her appreciation of simple joys.

“The human heart, even when it wants to die, quite often wants to eat some tteokbokki at the same time,” reads the book’s most famous line. Tteokbokki, which are tubular chewy rice cakes usually eaten with a spicy sauce or stew, is a popular snack in Korean cuisine.

Born in 1990, Baek Se-hee studied creative writing at university and worked for five years in publishing, according to her brief biography at Bloomsbury Publishing, which produced the English version of her 2018 memoir.

Anton Hur, who translated Beck’s book into English, wrote on Instagram that her organs saved five lives, but “her readers will know that she touched millions more lives with her writing.”

“My thoughts are with her family,” he wrote.

For a decade she was treated for dysthymia, a mild but long-lasting type of depression that formed the basis of her bestseller, according to her Bloomsbury biography.

A sequel, I Want to Die but I Still Want to Eat Tteokbokki, was published in Korean in 2019. Its English translation was published in 2024.

Tributes poured in on social networks. “Rest in peace,” read a comment on Beek’s Instagram page. “Thank you for saving us with your honesty.”

Another Instagram user said that every time they read Beck’s memoir, they find “deep comfort in every sentence and grow with him.”

“To create a single book that can uplift people… is no easy task, and I have the utmost respect for you for achieving this,” they wrote.

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