GOYANG, South Korea – South Korea announced Saturday that Baek Se-hye, author of the best-selling book “I Want to Die, But I Want to Eat Teokbokki,” died at the age of 35 at a hospital in Goyang, west of the capital, Seoul.
The news has shocked literary circles and social media, especially given the silence surrounding the cause of death, which was not announced at the request of her family.
Donate life after death
In a humanitarian gesture that sparked widespread sympathy, the Korean Organ Donation Agency announced that the deceased had donated her heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys after her death, helping save the lives of five people.
“Baek always wanted to share her heart with others through her words, and now she has actually shared her heart to save others,” Baek’s sister said in a statement carried by Korean media.
Adab Bayek…a rare voice of honesty
Born in 1990, Pike studied creative writing before working for a publishing house and then forging her own path as a freelance writer. She gained widespread acclaim after the publication of her first book.
“I Want to Die, But I Want to Eat Teokbokki” (2018), a series of honest, direct conversations with her psychiatrist about her experience with depression and persistent mood disorder.
From Korea to the world
The book received global acclaim when it was translated into English in 2022, selling over a million copies and being translated into 25 languages, making it one of the most prominent contemporary literary mental health books.
A sequel, “I Want to Die but I Still Want to Eat Teokbokki,” was released in 2019 and translated into English in 2024.
What distinguished Pike was her ability to convey psychological suffering in simple, intimate, and unpretentious language, making her readers feel that they are not alone, in societies that often marginalize or stigmatize talk about psychological pain.
A touching electronic farewell
On social media, the writer’s pages have turned into an electronic book of condolences, with one fan writing: “Thank you for saving us with your honesty. Rest in peace.”
While others shared quotes from her book, messages of gratitude, and testimonies that her words were the reason they held on to life.
