Lotte World Tower

Lotte World Tower rises 555 metres over 123 floors, making it the tallest building in South Korea and the first in the country to pass 100 storeys. It opened on 3 April 2017. For visitors, the point is Seoul Sky, the observatory on the top seven floors: eastern Seoul, the Han River, endless apartment blocks and Olympic Park spread out like a map, and on clear days the view reaches the mountains beyond the city centre.

The building

The project took about 13 years of planning and site preparation before final approval in 2010. It was designed by the US firm Kohn Pedersen Fox, and the pale glass facade is said to draw on the curves of Korean ceramics.

The diagrid "lantern" at the top, covering floors 107–123, is about 120 metres tall. The tower is engineered to withstand a magnitude-9 earthquake and winds of 80 m/s, and it uses geothermal probes sunk about 200 metres underground plus Han River water for heating and cooling.

What to see

• Floors 117–118: the entrance levels of Seoul Sky. The Sky Deck on floor 118 has a glass floor that lets you look straight down to the streets hundreds of metres below.
• Floors 119–123: cafés, a terrace and a gift shop, with a lounge bar on the top floor, 123.
• The views: the Han River and its bridges to the north, Olympic Park to the south-east, and Seokchon Lake and the Lotte World theme park right below.
• Sky Bridge Tour: a separate, harnessed walk across a bridge between the roof structures at 541 metres, almost exactly the height of One World Trade Center in New York.

Good to know

• Around 195,000 m³ of concrete and more than 40,000 tonnes each of structural steel and rebar went into the tower. It cost about KRW 3.8 trillion, and some 776,000 worker-days of labour.
• The Sky Bridge at 541 metres opened in July 2020.
• In February 2019 President Moon Jae-in and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the observatory on floor 118.
• Fireworks were launched from the tower on the opening night, 3 April 2017, and again on New Year's Day 2018 with a laser show for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
• Seoul Sky is described as the second-highest observation facility in the world, after the one in Shanghai Tower.

Tripto tips

• Getting there: the tower connects underground to Jamsil Station (Lines 2 and 8). The observatory lifts start from the basement.
• When to go: pick a day with low fine-dust levels. Going up around sunset gives you both the daytime view and the city lights.
• Time needed: 1–2 hours for the observatory. Add a walk round Seokchon Lake or a day at Lotte World.
• Tickets and hours: prices and opening times change with the season and ticket type, so check the official Seoul Sky website. Booking ahead saves queuing on weekend evenings.