Restlessly going back and forth between Japan and Korea, he would die of a heart attack, at the age of seventy-three, on 16 July 2005 at the Akasaka Prince Hotel, the former residence of his parents in Tokyo, Japan.
Dengan tak kenal lelah pulang pergi antara Jepang dan Korea, ia akhirnya meninggal karena penyakit Serangan jantung diusianya yang ke-74, pada tanggal 16 Juli 2005 di Akasaka Prince Hotel, bekas tempat tinggal orangtuanya di Tokyo, Jepang.