South Korean police detained a British man in the capital Seoul on Monday after he scaled 73 floors of the world’s fifth-tallest building without ropes. George King-Thompson attempted to climb the world's fifth tallest building without any harness on Monday and managed to even climb halfway up the building to the 73rd floor. Thompson had reached the 73rd floor of Seoul's 123-storey Lotte World Tower when the South Korean authorities forced him to abandon his journey by getting him into a maintenance cradle, reported the Independent.
While donning a pair of shorts, the 24-year-old climbed up the skyscraper for more than an hour as police and fire crews gathered below. The authorities eventually detained him for questioning.
Lotte Property & Development, which operates the tower, said the man didn’t suffer any major injuries.
Thompson was spotted by a security officer who was working on the 42nd floor and called the police, Lotte said.
He was arrested on charges of trespassing and obstruction of business, The Korea Herald reported. It added that he was planning to parachute from the top of the building.
Police are investigating how he approached and climbed the tower, and the company said it will review whether to make structural or system changes so that unauthorized climbing from the ground is not possible, Lotte added.
The tower, the tallest in South Korea, is home to apartments, offices and various retail stores.
Climbing up buildings without harnesses is not new for Thompson though. In 2019, he was reportedly arrested and sentenced to six months of imprisonment based on a civil lawsuit for climbing the Shard building in London.
In 2018, French climber Alain Robert, known as “Spider-Man” for his daring stunt, was also detained after climbing to the 75th floor of the Lotte World Tower.