I knew it was too good to last. "Turtleman," a.k.a. Lim Sung Hoon, the biggest thing in Korean pop music when I was there in 2006, passed from this mortal coil on April 3rd of this year. He was 38. He died of a heart attack, and you can see how big this guy is, but still, you think all the usual things; he was so young, (relatively speaking,) and probably had some amount of life still ahead of him. I read the news is on the Turtles' MySpace page, and there was another bit from http://www.popseoul.com/2008/04/03/lim-sung-hoon-the-turtle-man-dies-of-heart-attack/. When I was there, "Airplane," ("Bihaengi," to all the Korean kids,) was the biggest hit of the summer of '06; we're talking "Music Box Dancer" kind of radio airplay, only it didn't drive you out of your mind. Not completely, anyway. You could tell by all the pictures he was having fun with his attendant hootchies in tow. I guess it's really gonna mean more to be hanging on to the Turtles CDs I have, especially in America. And I can't imagine what my former students must be experiencing now. Yeah, he'll be missed.

We are sorry to report that “Turtle Man” (Lim Sung Hoon) from k-pop group Turtles passed away from a heart attack this morning (Korea time). The 38 year old singer was found by his manager lying breathless on his bed and the time of his death is estimated 5-6 hours before he was found. The Turtle Man suffered from myocardial infarction since 2005 and his father passed away from the same condition. Big and small stars are paying their respect to the late singer as we write this story. RIP Lim Sung Hoon. You’ll be truly missed.