Slackliner walks 160 meters above Gwanghwamun, leaving crowds breathless

In the heart of Gwanghwamun on Thursday, a single slender line was strung 120 meters above the ground between two skyscrapers — a 160-meter highline connecting Coreana Hotel and the Dong-A Media Center.

A man stepped onto it, arms outstretched, placing one foot carefully in front of the other. He was Jan Rus, one of the world's top slackliners.

There was no safety net between the buildings. Rus moved across the line with only a single tether attached to his body.

Slacklining is an extreme sport in which athletes walk, jump and perform acrobatic tricks on a flat, taut line roughly 2.5 to 5 centimeters wide stretched between two anchor points.

It was the first time a slacklining event had been held in a South Korean city center. The Seoul Metropolitan Government sponsored the event; Red Bull Korea organized it.

Rus, who is from Estonia, has claimed the slacklining world championship three times and holds multiple records in the sport.

In 2024, he became the first person to cross the Strait of Messina — the roughly 3.6-kilometer stretch of water separating mainland Italy from Sicily — on a slackline.

He is also credited as the first slackliner to land a double backflip on a line.

Crowds gathered at every vantage point along the route before the performance even began.

One elderly spectator gazed up at the clear autumn sky and said, "How can a person walk up there? There's wind — how can he keep his balance?"

Safety personnel in fluorescent vests moved briskly through the crowd.

When Rus appeared on the rooftop of Coreana Hotel at around 1:02 p.m., gasps rose from the street below.

"Is that actually safe?" some worried aloud, while others laughed and said their hands were trembling.

When Rus finally stepped out into the open air, spectators craned their necks back and tracked his every move, phones raised overhead to capture the dizzying scene 120 meters up.

He advanced step by step with a calm expression, swinging his arms wide to maintain his balance.

Each time his body tilted slightly to one side, short screams broke out below.

Rus responded by looking down and waving reassuringly — and at one point lay flat on the line as if to put the crowd at ease.

Yeon, a 29-year-old who works near Gwanghwamun, said watching made their palms sweat. "It's terrifying, but at the same time I feel a kind of liberation," they said.

Rus's decision to take on Seoul was partly inspired by his connection to Korean traditional tightrope walking. He first encountered the art form during a visit to South Korea in 2022 and has followed it with interest ever since.

About 15 minutes after setting out, Rus reached the far end of the line at the Dong-A Media Center. He turned and waved, and the crowd that had been holding its breath erupted in applause and cheers.

But the challenge was not over.

At around 1:17 p.m., Rus began walking back toward Coreana Hotel — and on the return trip, the tricks grew bolder.

He stood on his hands, hung from the line with one arm, and dangled upside down like a bat with both feet hooked over the line. As he neared the end, he struck a push-up position on the line itself.

Each new stunt drew fresh waves of gasps and applause from below.

Kim, a 63-year-old visiting from Daegu, said it was a sight he had never seen in his life. "I watched like a worried parent," he said with a laugh. "Can you even imagine how much he must have trained?"

Rus completed the round trip at around 1:27 p.m., arriving back at Coreana Hotel to sustained cheers and applause from the street 120 meters below.

A second performance was scheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday.

Given the event's location above a densely populated city center, the Seoul Metropolitan Government deployed safety personnel throughout the area and separated spectator zones from pedestrian routes to prevent accidents.