Famed French rock climber Alain Robert was arrested by Korean police on Wednesday for scaling Korea’s tallest tower without permission.

Robert, 55, was intercepted on the 75th floor and taken to the roof of the 123-story building on a maintenance cradle.

Fourteen firetrucks and 65 firefighters were deployed to the scene after a Lotte worker spotted Robert ascending the tower’s outer wall at around 8 a.m.


 

The police said Robert had not equipped himself with any safety gear. The authorities will question the French climber for the motive of his “criminal” actions before determining what to do with the man. 

At the scene of his arrest, Robert said, "I hope it won't be that bad. Up to today I have loved the people of South Korea. I have been telling my friend earlier that I can really appreciate everybody, (they're) all gentle. South Korea is an amazing country." 

"As far as I understand, I am under arrest, so... the show must go on," said Robert, singing the last part of his comment.

Robert is from Burgundy, France, and has been dubbed “Spiderman” for scaling the world’s renowned skyscrapers in Sydney, London, Sao Paulo, Chicago and Kuala Lumpur. In 2011, Robert reportedly climbed the world’s tallest building, the 828-meter Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in under six hours.

This is not the first time that he has been arrested for unauthorized climbing, but he is also not the first to scale the Lotte Tower without permission.

In 2016, Vitaliy Raskalov from Ukraine and his partner-in-crime Vadim Makhorov also evaded security to scale the 555 meter Lotte World Tower. 

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)