Estonian slackliner Roose completes South Korea’s urban highline challenge

Estonian slackline world champion Jaan Roose completed a slackline walk between buildings in central Seoul on Thursday (October 1), taking on a challenging line above the heart of the capital.

Roose said urban highlines are particularly challenging because of the conditions in a city environment.

“Lines in the city are always harder than lines in nature,” he said after completing the 160-metre (524.9 feet) walk, suspended 120 metres (383.7 feet) above the ground.

Roose, who first visited South Korea in 2022, also spoke about the connection between modern trick slacklining and Korea’s traditional tightrope-walking art, Jultagi.

He said he learned that one of slackline tricks known as the Korea Bounce was inspired by movements found in “Jultagi”, a traditional Korean performance art that dates back around 2,000 years.

The performance also drew attention from people passing through the area. Han Jae-hyun, a 29-year-old South Korean office worker, said seeing the highline above Cheonggyecheon in the middle of the city gave him a new perspective on everyday life.

“I’ve always seen people climbing cliffs and doing things like that abroad, but seeing it right above Cheonggyecheon in the middle of the city made daily life feel new,” Han said.

Roose has taken on slackline challenges around the world, including a 3.6-kilometre crossing between Sicily and mainland Italy in 2024, which set a world record, and a 1,074-metre crossing over Istanbul’s Bosphorus later that year.

Camera, Editing: Daewoung Kim. Production: Dahyun Lee, Hyunyoung Yi. Writing: Hyunyoung Yi./Reuters