South Korean author of I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokbokki dies at 35

Baek Se-hee, the South Korean author of his best-selling memoir “I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Teokbokki,” has died at the age of 35.

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

Originally written in Korean, it received worldwide acclaim after its English translation was published in 2022.

Details surrounding her death are unclear.

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

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

“I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Ttokbokki,” which was released in 2018, has sold more than a million copies worldwide and has been translated in 25 countries.

This bestselling book has been celebrated for its normalization of mental health conversations and its nuanced treatment of inner conflicts—most notably the author’s personal struggle between depressive thoughts and her appreciation for simple joys.

“The human heart, even when it wants to die, often at the same time wants to eat some teokbokki too,” goes the book’s most famous sentence.

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

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

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

For a decade, she received treatment for melancholy, a mild but long-lasting type of depression, which formed the basis of her best-selling book, her Bloomsbury biography said.

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

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

Another Instagram user said that every time they read Pike’s memoir, they find “deep comfort in every sentence and grow alongside it.”

“Creating a single book that can uplift people…is no easy task, and I have incredible respect for you for making it happen,” they wrote.

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