Rungrado 1st of May Stadium
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| Location | Pyongyang, North Korea |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 39°2′58.47″N 125°46′30.79″E / 39.0495750°N 125.7752194°E |
| Owner | DPR Korea |
| Capacity | 150,000[1] |
| Field size | Main pitch- 22,500 m² Total floor space- over 207,000 m² |
| Opened | May 1, 1989 |
| Tenants | |
| Parades/shows celebrating Kim Il-sung and North Korea. Arirang Festival North Korea national football team (some games) North Korea women's national football team (some games) | |
| Rungrado 1st of May Stadium | |
| Chosŏn'gŭl | 릉라도 5월1일 경기장 |
|---|---|
| Hancha | |
| Revised Romanization | Neungnado 5(o)-wol 1(ir)-il Gyeonggijang |
| McCune–Reischauer | Rŭngnado Owŏl Iril Kyŏnggijang |
The Rungrado 1st of May Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea, completed on May 1, 1989. It is currently the largest stadium in the world, with a capacity of 150,000, and occupies 20.7 hectares (51 acres).
Overview
It is currently used for football matches, a few athletics events, but most often for Arirang performances (also known as the Mass Games). The stadium can seat 150,000,[2] which is the largest stadium by capacity in the world and the world's 12th largest sporting venue.[3]
Its name comes from Rungrado Islet in the Taedong River, upon which it is situated, and May Day, the international labour day. Its scalloped roof features 16 arches arranged in a ring, and it is said to resemble a magnolia blossom. It is not to be confused with the nearby 50,000 capacity Kim Il-sung Stadium.
It hosts events on a main pitch sprawling across over 22,500 m² (242,200 ft²). Its total floor space is over 207,000 m² (2.2 million ft²) across eight stories, and the lobes of its roof peak at more than 60 m (197 ft) from the ground.
While the stadium is used for sporting events, it is most famous as the site of massive performances and shows celebrating Kim Il-sung and the North Korean nation. In June–July 2002 it was the site of a large choreographed "Arirang" gymnastic and artistic performance (often referred to elsewhere as "mass games"). The extravaganza involved for the first time some 100,000+ participants—double the number of spectators[4]—and was open to foreigners. These performances are now an annual feature in Pyongyang, usually in August and September. The Guinness Book of Records has recognized these events as the largest in the world.
In the late 1990s, a number of North Korean army generals implicated in an assassination attempt on Kim Jong-Il were executed via burning in the stadium.[5]
In 2000 Kim Jong-Il entertained Madeleine Albright, the U.S. Secretary of State under President Bill Clinton.[6] Collision in Korea was the largest professional wrestling pay-per-view event ever that was jointly produced by World Championship Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling. It took place over a period of two days on April 28 and 29, 1995 at the stadium and had an alleged attendance of 150,000 and 190,000. It did not air in North America until August 4, 1995. The attendance figure may have been greatly exaggerated, and American wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer has stated, more realistically, that the actual combined attendance for the two-day-event was somewhere around 160,000 total.[7]
See also
References
- ^ http://www.worldofstadiums.com/asia/dpr-korea/rungrado-1st-of-may-stadium/
- ^ www.football-lineups.com The World's Largest Sporting Venues | Stadium Atlas
- ^ The 11 venues larger than Rungrado are all automobile racing courses. See Sporting Sights
- ^ Watts, Jonathan (17 May 2002). "Despair, hunger and defiance at the heart of the greatest show on earth". The Guardian. London.
- ^ Soukhorukov, Sergey (13 June 2004). "Train blast was 'a plot to kill North Korea's leader'". The Daily Telegraph.
- ^ "Is Kim her next challenge?". Asia Times Online. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
- ^ http://whatculture.com/wwe/16-ppvs-not-on-the-wwe-network?page=5
External links
Media related to Rŭngnado Stadium at Wikimedia Commons
- Rungnado May Day Stadium 360 degree panorama
- Rungnado May Day Stadium view from above
- Rungnado May Day Stadium 360° Google Street View