Bestselling author recommended by BTS singer dies at 35

Baek Se-hee, South Korean author of the bestselling book I Want to Die, but Heaven Has No Tteokbokki , has died at the age of 35.

His 2018 book, a compilation of conversations with his psychiatrist about his depression, was a cultural phenomenon, with its mental health themes resonating with readers around the world.

Originally written in Korean, the book received international acclaim after the publication of its English translation in 2022. In Brazil, the book was published in 2023 by Universo dos Livros.

The work also gained notoriety after being recommended by Kim Namjoon, singer of the K-pop group BTS.

The details surrounding the writer's death are unclear.

Baek donated his organs — heart, lungs, liver and kidneys — which helped save five lives, the Korea Organ Donation Agency said in a statement Friday.

The statement also included comments from his sister, who said Baek wanted to "share his heart with others through his work and inspire hope."

The book I Wanted to Die, But Heaven Doesn't Have Tteokbokki , published in 2018, has sold more than 1 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 25 countries.

Tteokbokki is a typical Korean food, made with boiled rice flour dumplings, called tteok, covered in a spicy and slightly sweet sauce.

The bestseller was celebrated for normalizing conversations about mental health and for its nuanced approach to internal struggles—particularly the author's personal conflict between depressive thoughts and her appreciation for simple joys.

"The human heart, even when it wants to die, often also wants to eat a little tteokbokki," says the book's most famous line.

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

Anton Hur, who translated Baek's book into English, wrote on Instagram that her organs saved five people, but "her readers will know that she touched millions of lives with her writing."

"My thoughts are with your family," he wrote.

For a decade, she received treatment for dysthymia, a mild but lasting type of depression that formed the basis of her best-selling book, according to her Bloomsbury biography.

A sequel, I Wanted to Die, but Heaven (Still) Has No Tteokbokki was published in Korean in 2019. Its Portuguese translation was published in 2024.

Tributes poured in on social media. "Rest in peace," reads one comment on Baek's Instagram page. "Thank you for saving us with your honesty."

Another Instagram user said that every time they read Baek's memoir, they found "deep comfort in every sentence and grew from it."

"Creating a single book that can uplift people... is no easy task, and I have indescribable respect for you for achieving this," he wrote.