Baek Se-hee (pic), the author of the bestselling memoirs I Want to Die But I Want To Eat Tteokbokki (2018) and its sequel I Want To Die But I Still Want To Eat Tteokbokki (2024), has died at 35.
It is not yet clear how she died.
The Korea Organ Donation Agency on Oct 17 said she saved five lives through organ donations, gifting her heart, lungs, liver and both kidneys at the National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital in Gyeonggi Province, north of Seoul, where she was born.
Her two books, translated from Korean by South Korean writer and translator Anton Hur, feature lengthy dialogues between Baek and her therapist.
In her work, she spoke about the existential ennui of depression, which remains a taboo in South Korea and many Asian societies.
“I was thinking of planning my own death, but I got hungry and ate tteokbokki.
“I felt guilty thinking that I could still eat tteokbokki when I wanted to die, yet it felt like such a natural thing to do.”
In her first book, she elaborates: “I wonder about others like me, who seem totally fine on the outside but are rotting on the inside, where the rot is this vague state of being not fine and not devastated at the same time.”
Her books have been translated and published in more than 25 countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium and Poland, leading a wave of South Korean and Japanese cosy bestsellers in the global book market.
Those in need of emotional support or contemplating suicide can contact the Health Ministry’s National Mental Health Crisis Line or HEAL Line 15555, or Befrienders Kuala Lumpur by calling their 24-hour helpline at +603-7627 2929, or visit https://www.befrienders.org.my/ for more information. — The Straits Times/ANN
