South Korean writer Baek Se-hee gained international fame with her memoir “I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki.” Instagram
South Korean author Baek Se-hee, whose deeply personal memoir “I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki” touched millions of readers around the world, has died at the age of 35. The Korean Organ Donation Agency confirmed her passing on Thursday but did not share the cause of death.
Baek gained international attention for her honest and emotional writing about mental health and depression. Her 2018 book, which combined memoir and self-help, detailed her therapy sessions and personal reflections as she navigated through feelings of despair while still finding comfort in small joys — especially tteokbokki, a spicy rice cake dish she loved.
A Book That Changed the Conversation
Baek’s memoir opened a window into her private world, offering readers a rare and honest look at what it means to live with depression. Through her conversations with her psychiatrist, she explored how even moments of happiness could exist alongside deep sadness.
“Even when I changed all the parts of my life that I had wanted to change — my weight, education, partner and friends — I was still depressed,” she wrote. “I didn’t always feel that way, but I would go in and out of a funk that was as inevitable as bad weather.”
The book became a bestseller in South Korea shortly after its release in 2018 and started a wider public discussion about mental health, a topic often considered taboo in Korean society.
When translated into English in 2022, it reached the Sunday Times Bestsellers List in the United Kingdom and was also recommended by the New York Times, solidifying Baek’s place as one of the most influential Korean authors of her generation.
Life and Legacy
Born in 1990, Baek studied creative writing at university before working as a social media director at a publishing company. It was during that period, while undergoing treatment for depression, that she began writing her first memoir.
She followed up with a second book in 2019 titled “I Want to Die but I Still Want to Eat Tteokbokki”, which continued to explore her long-term struggle with dysthymia, a form of chronic low-level depression.
Baek’s younger sister, Baek Da-hee, remembered her as a loving and hopeful person. “She wrote, shared her heart with others through her writing, and hoped to nurture dreams of hope,” she said in a statement released by the organ donation agency. “I know her kind heart, one that loved so much and hated no one. I hope she now rests in peace in heaven.”
A Gift That Keeps Giving
Even in death, Baek’s compassion lived on. The organ donation agency said she donated her heart, lungs, liver, and both kidneys, saving the lives of five people.
Baek’s English translator and fellow author Anton Hur also paid tribute, writing, “Her readers will know she touched yet millions of lives more with her writing. My thoughts are with her family.”
Her passing leaves a deep void in Korean literature, but her words — filled with honesty, pain, and warmth — continue to comfort readers across the world.
