--- title: 'French Spiderman' Arrested Trying to Scale Seoul Skyscraper description: A French urban free-climber made it halfway up the fifth highest building in the world before security forced him to abandon the skyscraper canonical: https://time.com/5303989/french-spiderman-alain-robert-seoul/ author: Casey Quackenbush article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-06-07T03:40:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T09:29:52.744Z og:title: 'French Spiderman' Arrested Trying to Scale Seoul Skyscraper og:description: He said he wanted to celebrate peace talks between North and South Korea og:url: https://time.com/5303989/french-spiderman-alain-robert-seoul/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfbed5c435aa595be/698932800a4a22811e9d2e99/gettyimages-471421902.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4962 og:image:height: 2791 og:image:alt: FRANCE-CLIMBING-SKYSCRAPER-SPIDERMAN og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'French Spiderman' Arrested Trying to Scale Seoul Skyscraper twitter:description: He said he wanted to celebrate peace talks between North and South Korea twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfbed5c435aa595be/698932800a4a22811e9d2e99/gettyimages-471421902.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'French Spiderman' Arrested After Trying to Scale a Skyscraper in South Korea > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=73bb55f5-dcf4-4d6d-8b5a-1ac946697199&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 'French Spiderman' Arrested After Trying to Scale a Skyscraper in South Korea [Watch (HLS stream): 'French Spiderman' Arrested After Trying to Scale a Skyscraper in South Korea](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lMVvYfUA.m3u8) (0:39)  _Published 2018-06-07. An urban free-climber known as the “French Spiderman” made it halfway up the world’s fifth highest building before security forced him to abandon the skyscraper in the South Korean capital._ by [Casey Quackenbush](https://time.com/author/casey-quackenbush/) ## Casey Quackenbush Jun 7, 2018 3:40 AM UTC by [Casey Quackenbush](https://time.com/author/casey-quackenbush/) ## Casey Quackenbush Jun 7, 2018 3:40 AM UTC An urban free-climber known as the “French Spiderman” [made it](https://www.afp.com/en/news/23/french-spiderman-foiled-seoul-skyscraper-attempt-doc-15n6244) halfway up the world’s fifth highest building before security forced him to abandon the skyscraper in the South Korean capital. Barehanded and with no ropes, [Alain Robert](http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/03/29/watch-french-spider-man-climbs-worlds-tallest-building/) was attempting scale the 123-storey Lotte World Tower in Seoul, but the 55-year-old was chased down by workers inside the building, intercepted and arrested, Agence France-Presse reports. “I climbed about 75 stories and then after that, it was a bit like cat and mouse,” Robert told AFP. “Finally, I decided to surrender.” Robert told AFP that his climb was intended to celebrate the recent peace initiatives between North and South Korea. “I may get a hefty fine… but I did it because of what is happening now between South Korea and North Korea,” Robert said. “That is my way of saying thank you to Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-in.” The leaders of North and South Korea have made recent steps toward reconciliation following years of frosty relations. Next week, President Trump is slated to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore for a [historic summit](http://time.com/5302675/trump-kim-summit-singapore-sentosa-island-capella-hotel/) to discuss denuclearization. Having scaled over 100 structures without any safety equipment, Robert holds a Guinness World Record for most buildings climbed unassisted. His triumphs include the Eiffel Tower, the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. But Robert has also suffered from a number of accidents that says have left him partially disabled. “It’s regrettable,” said You In-sik, a spokesman for the Lotte World Tower, according to AFP. “He climbed without permission. It’s dangerous.” Robert has been arrested several times for his prior escapades. ## Transcript [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ SOUND ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ CROSSTALK ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5303989/french-spiderman-alain-robert-seoul/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5303989/french-spiderman-alain-robert-seoul/"},"headline":"'French Spiderman' Arrested After Trying to Scale a Skyscraper in South Korea","datePublished":"2018-06-07T03:40:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-12T09:29:52.744Z","description":"Alain Robert said the stunt was meant to celebrate peace talks between North and South Korea","url":"https://time.com/5303989/french-spiderman-alain-robert-seoul/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Bizarre","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfbed5c435aa595be/698932800a4a22811e9d2e99/gettyimages-471421902.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Casey Quackenbush","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/casey-quackenbush/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfbed5c435aa595be/698932800a4a22811e9d2e99/gettyimages-471421902.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"FRANCE-CLIMBING-SKYSCRAPER-SPIDERMAN","caption":"FRANCE-CLIMBING-SKYSCRAPER-SPIDERMAN","creditText":"Kenzo Tribouillard—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5303989/french-spiderman-alain-robert-seoul/","name":"'French Spiderman' Arrested After Trying to Scale a Skyscraper in South Korea"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"'French Spiderman' Arrested After Trying to Scale a Skyscraper in South Korea","description":"An urban free-climber known as the “French Spiderman” made it halfway up the world’s fifth highest building before security forced him to abandon the skyscraper in the South Korean capital.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/lMVvYfUA/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-06-07T08:43:28.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lMVvYfUA.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5303989/french-spiderman-alain-robert-seoul/","duration":"PT39S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5303989/french-spiderman-alain-robert-seoul/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```