Police search for foreigners parachuting from L City

The police have launched investigations after two men believed to be foreigners jumped off the 99th floor of L City in Haeundae-gu, Busan, the second-tallest skyscraper in Korea.

Busan Haeundae Police Station said on Sunday that it is tracking two individuals suspected of having secretly entered the Jungdong L City building in Haeundae-gu (home invasion). They are suspected of ‘base jumping’ using parachutes from the 99th-floor observatory of L City around 7 a.m. on Thursday. Base jumping is an extreme sport that involves jumping off a tall building or cliff. Police suspect they are base jumping experts who travel to and jump from famous skyscrapers around the world.

Reportedly, the two men descended from L City to a certain height, opened the parachute they carried on their backs, landed at Haeundae Beach, and disappeared. The police were dispatched after receiving a report that someone had jumped from L City and was coming down on a parachute,” but were unable to arrest them. The police suspect that they had stayed at a nearby lodging and sneaked into L City, jumped, and then disappeared on electric bicycles.

The L City has 101 stories totaling a height of 411 meters, making it the second tallest building in Korea after the 123-story Lotte World Tower (555 meters). The observatory on the 98th to 100th floors is open to the public, paying an entrance fee. The police plan to charge the two men on the grounds of home invasion, however. “Anyone entering a building against the will of apartment residents or managers and disrupts the peace of the residence may be punished for trespassing,” said a police official. The police are investigating whereabouts and identities based on witnesses and closed-circuit (CCTV) footage.


부산=김화영 run@donga.com