Estonian Slackliner Walks 120 Meters Above the Streets of Seoul

Hundreds of people in central Seoul stopped to look up on Thursday as Estonian slackliner Jaan Roose walked across a narrow line suspended high above one of the city’s busiest areas.

The 34-year-old three-time world champion crossed a 160-meter-long highline stretched between the Koreana Hotel and the Dong-A Media Center. The line was suspended about 120 meters above the ground, with the streets, buildings and crowds of central Seoul far below.

Roose carefully stepped onto the line at the start of the performance, while spectators watched from below and recorded the extraordinary scene on their phones. The event was described by organizers as South Korea’s first high-altitude urban slackline performance.

During the crossing, Roose did more than simply walk from one building to another. He stopped several times to sit on the line, lie down and perform controlled movements. At one point, he hung from the line with one arm and later dangled by his feet.

The performance was carried out with a safety leash, but there was no safety net beneath him. Organizers said the equipment had undergone safety inspections and that the event would be stopped if wind conditions became too dangerous.

Roose is no stranger to extreme highline challenges. In 2024, he became the first person to cross the Strait of Messina between mainland Italy and Sicily on a slackline. He also completed a 14.7-kilometer slackline challenge above the Danube in Bratislava in September 2026.

His Seoul performance had a personal connection to Korea. Roose said a visit to the country in 2022 introduced him to jultagi, a traditional Korean form of tightrope walking that combines balance, acrobatics, music and performance.

For Roose, the Seoul challenge was not only about height. He said urban performances are particularly difficult because of the surroundings and the conditions created by a large city.

He also described his approach to difficult challenges as taking them one step at a time rather than concentrating on the entire distance at once.

After completing the crossing, Roose returned to the rooftop as spectators applauded below. For the people watching in central Seoul, an ordinary day in the city had briefly turned into a remarkable spectacle high above the streets.

Sources

• Reuters — October 2, 2026.
• The Guardian — October 1, 2026.
• The Korea Times — October 1, 2026.