13th World Festival of Youth and Students
Large scale event hosted between 1–8 July 1989 in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The 13th World Festival of Youth and Students (WFYS) was held from 1–8 July 1989 in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, and was organized by the World Federation of Democratic Youth. It was the largest international event staged in North Korea up until then.[1]
The 13th World Festival of Youth and Students 제13차 세계청년학생축전 | |
---|---|
Host country | North Korea |
Date | 1989 (1989) |
Cities | Pyongyang |
Participants | 22,000, from 177 countries |
The event took four years of preparation by the North Korean government, which effectively spent a quarter of the country's yearly budget (US$4.5 billion) on it.[2] The government built elaborate stadiums, shipped in Mercedes-Benz vehicles to tote around foreigners, and undertook other expensive architectural projects. Ultimately declared as the largest ever World Festival of Youth and Students, about 22,000 people from 177 countries took part in the festival, including 100 people from the United States. For eight days starting on 1 July 1989, the students participated in political discussions, sports competitions, and other activities.[3] Many accounts described the festival as a reaction to Seoul's hosting of the 1988 Summer Olympics, which North Korea boycotted.[4]
This event was the last festival held during the Cold War era as waves of unrest began to occur throughout Central and Eastern Europe later on in the year.