Briton arrested for attempting to climb South Korea's tallest building

George King Thompson climbs South Korea's tallest building, the 123-story Lotte World Tower, without a rope. Credit: SONGPA FIRE STATION/REUTERS

Firefighters rushed to the tower during their morning drive after they received a phone call from a security guard around 7:50 am that a foreigner was making his way to the top of the outer wall with his bare hands and wearing only shorts.

Mr. King-Thompson climbed upstairs for more than an hour while emergency services gathered below, setting up an inflatable mat in preparation for a possible fall.

The fire brigade was able to deploy the maintenance cradle to force him to return to the building just before 9 a.m., escorting him inside the tower through the smoke exhaust system.

According to South Korean news outlet Yonhap, which called him «British Spider-Man», he told police that climbing the tower was his long time dream, and that he had been planning to climb for six months, even though he arrived in South Korea only three days ago.

Lotte World Tower in Seoul is the fifth tallest building in the world. Photo: Anadolu agency. , using a parachute or wingsuits to descend safely to the ground.

Police said he showed signs of exhaustion but was otherwise unharmed and charged with trespassing.

Alain Robert. , a French climber, was also arrested in 2018 after attempting to do the same without official permission. He reached the 75th floor before being stopped.