[Anchor]
This afternoon (October 1), a high-wire tightrope walking event took place at the height of a 40-story apartment building in downtown Seoul. Crossing Sejong-daero, the performer stood on a rope only 2 cm wide.
It was a breathtaking challenge high above the city center. Reporter Cho Min-ki has the story.
[Reporter]
Downtown Gwanghwamun, Seoul, this afternoon.
Citizens stop in their tracks and look up at the sky.
At the end of their gaze is a long tightrope spanning the airspace above Sejong-daero, and a man standing on top of it.
Waving his hands from side to side to keep his balance, he soon carefully takes steps forward one by one.
He is Jaan Roose, a world champion in slacklining, an extreme sport that involves walking and performing stunts on a high-altitude line.
About five minutes have passed since the tightrope walking began.
Jaan Roose is crossing the sky with only a safety line connecting his body to the rope, and without any safety net underneath.
Slacklining has been performed against the backdrop of major cities around the world, but this is the first time in Seoul.
He crossed back and forth across a 160-meter distance between the Koreana Hotel and the Dong-A Media Center buildings, relying on a 2 cm-wide rope at a height of 120 meters above the ground.
Just when it seemed he was having trouble keeping his balance due to stronger-than-expected winds, he soon performed tricks such as hanging from the rope by just one hand and waving, or hanging his feet on the rope, flipping his body upside down, and letting go with both hands.
Gasps of amazement echoed not only from the downtown streets but also from the rooftops of various buildings.
[Kim Dong-yun / Park Ae-ran, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do: I feel even more scared, so my hands and feet are curling up. My heart feels like it is pounding away.]
[Yang Jung-hoon, Seongdong-gu, Seoul: Even when I tried it from about 30 cm up, it was so difficult, so I do not really understand how he did it 120 meters up in the air. It sent thrills through my entire body, more than I expected.]
Completing the round trip across Sejong-daero in 30 minutes, Jaan Roose revealed that he is a fan of traditional Korean tightrope walking.
[Jaan Roose, Slackline Athlete: It is really difficult to do this kind of tightrope walking in a major metropolis like Seoul. For me, it is a huge surprise and feels like a miracle.]
(Photo courtesy of Red Bull Korea)
(Reported by Kim Heung-ki and Kim Seung-tae | Video edited by Lee So-young | Design by Jeon Yu-geun)
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