"More Earnings from Video than Fine" Parachute Jump from a Super High-Rise Building

Lotte World Tower and LCT Targeted
SomBangBang Punishment Controversy, Fine Only 5 Million Won
Could Become 'Base Jumping' Prey

In South Korea, incidents of foreigners illegally climbing ultra-high-rise buildings and jumping off are repeatedly occurring. However, all of these cases have resulted in only mild punishments, which is being criticized for encouraging second and third crimes.

According to the police on the 20th, at around 7 a.m. on the 15th, an incident occurred where two men, presumed to be foreigners, parachuted down from the 99th floor of the ultra-high-rise building LCT in Haeundae-gu, Busan. The Busan Haeundae Police Station is investigating them on suspicion of trespassing into the LCT building.

The police responded to a report that "someone jumped off LCT wearing a parachute," but the individuals had already fled. LCT is a 101-story building with a height of 411 meters, and the two are presumed to be so-called 'base jumping' experts who jump from high-rise buildings.

In June of last year, British climber George King Thompson was climbing the Lotte World Tower in Songpa-gu, Seoul, with his bare hands.

The main targets for base jumping are buildings such as Lotte World Tower and LCT. In June last year, British national George King Thompson climbed the Lotte World Tower in Songpa-gu, Seoul, with his bare hands. He started climbing the outer wall around 5 a.m., and at about 7:50 a.m., security personnel discovered him and reported to the police and fire authorities. Lotte Corporation lowered maintenance equipment on the building's outer wall and picked up Thompson on the 72nd floor, and the police arrested him inside the building. In August of the same year, Min Seong-cheol, chief judge of Criminal Division 42 at the Seoul Eastern District Court, issued a summary order fining him 5 million won. Thompson had previously been sentenced to six months in prison in the UK for illegally climbing The Shard, the tallest building in the UK, in 2019.

Under current law, illegal climbing of high-rise buildings is punishable under trespassing or obstruction of business charges. The police actually arrested Thompson on trespassing charges but forwarded the case to the prosecution on obstruction of business charges considering that he climbed the building's outer wall. However, both charges carry relatively light penalties. Trespassing is punishable by up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 5 million won, and obstruction of business is punishable by up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 15 million won.

Ultimately, Lotte World Tower implemented its own measures to prevent recurrence. A Lotte Corporation official said, “To prevent unauthorized climbing on the outer wall, we filled grooves that could be grabbed up to 13 meters above the ground and installed intelligent CCTV.”

Oh Yoon-sung, a professor of police administration at Soonchunhyang University, said, “As many high-rise buildings have been built in South Korea, they have become new prey for base jumping experts. If mild punishments continue, similar incidents are likely to occur in the future. From their perspective, filming videos allows them to gain maximum benefit with minimal damage.”