‘I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki’ author Baek Se-hee dies at 35
South Korean author Baek Se-hee, whose bestselling memoir I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki inspired millions with its candid reflections on depression and hope, has died at the age of 35.
Her death was confirmed on Friday, though the cause remains unclear. The Korean Organ Donation Agency said Baek had donated her heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys, helping save five lives, News.Az reports, citing BBC.
Baek’s 2018 memoir — a collection of her conversations with her psychiatrist — became a global phenomenon, praised for normalising mental health discussions in South Korea and beyond. The English translation, released in 2022, sold over one million copies and was translated into 25 languages.
“The human heart, even when it wants to die, quite often wants at the same time to eat some tteokbokki, too,” reads one of the book’s most quoted lines.
Translator Anton Hur paid tribute, writing that while her organs saved five people, “her readers will know she touched millions more with her writing.”
Born in 1990, Baek studied creative writing and worked for five years at a publishing house before releasing her breakthrough book. She openly spoke about her struggle with dysthymia, a long-term form of depression, which formed the basis of her memoir.
A sequel, I Want to Die but I Still Want to Eat Tteokbokki, was released in Korean in 2019 and translated into English in 2024.
Fans around the world have shared tributes online, thanking Baek for her honesty and empathy.
“Thank you for saving us with your words,” one Instagram user wrote.
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