Daredevil Jaan Roose prepares to walk slackline high above central Seoul

Estonian aerial athlete Jaan Roose is set to attempt a daring slackline walk high above central Seoul on Thursday. The 34-year-old, a three-time slackline world champion, will traverse a 160-metre long and 120-metre high ribbon suspended between the Koreana hotel and the Dong-A Media Center, near the city's renowned Gwanghwamun palace and square.

Roose has made a name for himself by navigating challenging urban environments, such as his record-breaking 185-metre highline between Qatar's iconic towers. In 2024, he became the first person to slackline the 3.6km strait of Messina between mainland Italy and Sicily, completing the feat despite a near-fatal fall near the end, caught by his safety harness.

Earlier this month, Roose covered a distance of 14.7km over 12 hours on a slackline above the Danube in Bratislava, Slovakia. The slackline walk in Seoul is expected to draw large crowds if the weather permits, with Roose planning to walk the ribbon twice - at 1pm and 4pm local time - provided wind speeds remain below 10m/s and gusts do not exceed 15m/s. The forecast for today is sunny with light breezes.

Roose's visit to South Korea in 2022, where he encountered Korea's traditional tightrope walking, jultagi, inspired his Gwanghwamun walk. Unlike tightrope walking elsewhere, jultagi incorporates comedy and acrobatics, with the walker singing, joking, and dancing on the rope while trading banter with a clown on the ground and music played by musicians.