Seoul Olympic Stadium

The Seoul Olympic Stadium^[4] (Korean: 서울올림픽주경기장; Hanja: 서울올림픽主競技場), a.k.a “Jamsil Olympic Stadium" (formerly romanised as Chamshil), is a multi-purpose stadium in Seoul, South Korea. It is the main stadium built for the 1988 Summer Olympics and the 10th Asian Games in 1986. It is the centrepiece of the Seoul Sports Complex in the Songpa District, in the southeast of the city south of the Han River.^[5] It is the largest stadium in South Korea.

Seoul Olympic Stadium

Jamsil Olympic Stadium
Seoul Olympic Stadium in 2020
Location	Jamsil-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Public transit	Seoul Metropolitan Subway: at Sports Complex
Owner	Seoul Sports Facilities Management Center
Operator	Seoul Sports Facilities Management Center
Capacity	69,950[1]
Field size	110 x 75m
Surface	Grass
Construction
Broke ground	28 November 1977; 46 years ago (1977-11-28)[2]
Opened	29 September 1984; 39 years ago (1984-09-29)[3]
Construction cost	491 billion won
Architect	Kim Swoo-geun
Tenants
South Korea national football team (1984–2000, 2013) Seoul United (2007–2009, 2012) Seoul E-Land (2015–2022)

Korean name
Hangul	서울올림픽주경기장
Hanja	서울올림픽主競技場
Revised Romanization	Seoul Ollimping Ju Gyeonggijang
McCune–Reischauer	Sŏul Ollimp'ing Chu Kyŏnggijang

Design and construction

This multi-purpose stadium was designed by Kim Swoo-geun. The lines of the stadium's profile imitate the elegant curves of a Joseon white porcelain. Spectator seats are distributed on two tiers, half-covered. Initially built with a capacity of approximately 100,000, today it seats 69,950.^[6]

Before its construction, Seoul's largest venues were Dongdaemun Stadium and Hyochang Stadium. Seating 30,000 and 20,000 respectively, they were too small to attract world-class sporting events. Construction on the new stadium began in 1977 with the aim of staging the Asian Games in 1986. When Seoul was awarded the Games of the XXIV Olympiad in September 1981, this stadium became the centrepiece.

Sports

Officially, the stadium opened on 29 September 1984 as the main work for the 10th Asian Games held two years later, then the Olympics in 1988. However, it has not been used to stage a major world sporting event since then. It currently has no occupant, although the Korea Football Association has expressed interest in renovate and modernize the stadium, transforming it into a permanent ground for the national team matches.

The events hosted by the stadium during the Olympics were the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, athletics, the football finals, and the equestrian jumping individual final. The stadium also performed the same functions during the 1988 Summer Paralympics.^[7]

Football

Between the match against Japan on 30 September 1984 to the match against Yugoslavia on 28 May 2000, the Olympic Stadium was the home ground of the Korea Republic national football team. The newly built Seoul World Cup Stadium then became the center match venue for the Korean team. In an effort to revitalize football across the nation, Korea used the Olympic Stadium for the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup in a 1–2 losing match against Japan on 28 July 2013. The KFA has expressed interest in continuing to use the venue for future national team matches.

Since 2015, newly formed professional football club Seoul E-Land FC is using this stadium.

Auto racing

The Seoul ePrix had the circuit run over into the Stadium and around the Seoul Sports Complex.^[8]

List of concerts

Date	Performer(s)	Tour
11 and 13 October 1996	Michael Jackson	HIStory World Tour
25 June 1999	Michael Jackson and various artists	MJ & Friends
18 September 1999	H.O.T.	918 Concert
7 October 2000	Ricky Martin	Livin' la Vida Loca Tour
27 February 2001	H.O.T.	Forever Concert
22 June 2001	The Three Tenors	2001 World Tour
2 April 2002	Roger Waters	In the Flesh
2002/2004	ETPFEST
8 and 9 June 2004	Sarah Brightman	Harem World Tour
17 September 2004	Elton John	Elton John 2004 Tour
14 January 2006	Backstreet Boys	Never Gone Tour
15 August 2006	Metallica	Escape from the Studio '06
27–28 November 2010	JYJ	JYJ Showcase Tour 2010
27 April 2012	Lady Gaga	Born This Way Ball Tour[9]
18 August 2012	SM Town	SM Town Live World Tour III
19 August 2012	Eminem	The Recovery Tour
17 August 2013	Muse	The 2nd Law World Tour
18 August 2013	Metallica	Summer Tour 2013
9–10 August 2014	JYJ	The Return of The King Asia tour 2014
15 August 2014	YG Entertainment	YG Family 2014 World Tour: Power
25 October 2014	g.o.d	g.o.d 15th Anniversary Reunion Concert[10]
2 May 2015	Paul McCartney	Out There![11]
10-12 June 2016	Afrojack, Armin Van Buuren, Avicii, Axwell /\ Ingrosso, Knife Party, Martin Garrix, etc.	Ultra Korea
15–16 April 2017	Coldplay	A Head Full of Dreams Tour
27–28 May 2017	Exo	Exo Planet 3 – The Exo'rdium[12]
8-10 June 2018	Above & Beyond, Axwell /\ Ingrosso, The Chainsmokers, David Guetta, Galantis, Nicky Romero, RL Grime, Steve Angello, Zedd, etc.	Ultra Korea
25–26 August 2018	BTS	Love Yourself World Tour
13–14 October 2018	H.O.T.	Forever [Highfive of Teenagers] Concert
26, 27 and 29 October 2019	BTS	Love Yourself World Tour: Speak Yourself
24 October 2021		Permission to Dance on Stage (Online)
10, 12 and 13 March 2022		Permission to Dance on Stage – Seoul
8–9 September 2022	NCT Dream	The Dream Show 2: In A Dream
17–18 September 2022	IU	The Golden Hour: Under the Orange Sun[13]
22–23 October 2022	NCT 127	Neo City – The Link+[lower-alpha 1]
17-18 June 2023	Bruno Mars	Hyundai Card Super Concert 27
11 August 2023	See list of performers	25th World Scout Jamboree - KPOP Super Live

Notes

1. A special concert as part of NCT 127's "Neo City – The Link" world tour.

References

1. "Seoul Sports Facilities Management Center" (in Korean).
2. "Groundbreaking Ceremony" (in Korean). National News of Video History Museum. 30 December 1977.
3. 10만 환성 담을 아시아 최대 주경기장 (in Korean). The Dong-a Ilbo. 19 September 1988.
4. "Seoul Olympic Stadium" Archived 3 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine World Stadiums. Retrieved 12 October 2011
5. "Seoul Jamshil Sports Complex" Archived 12 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine Seoul Tourism Organization. Retrieved 12 October 2011
6. Forgey, Benjamin (16 September 1988). "SEOUL'S OLYMPIC INSPIRATION". The Washington Post.
7. "1988 Summer Olympics Official Report" Volume 1. Part 1. pp. 162-3.
8. "Revealed: 2020 Seoul E-Prix Circuit". FIA Formula E. 1 June 2019.
9. "Lady Gaga's Born This Way Ball Kicks Off Amid Protests". MTV. 27 April 2012. Archived from the original on 30 April 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
10. "g.o.d to Launch Encore Concert Next Month in Seoul Olympic Stadium". CJ E&M enewsWorld. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
11. "Paul to get 'Out There' in Seoul". 3 February 2015.
12. "[엑's 이슈] "엑소 파워 시동"…잠실서 또 신기록 세울까" (in Korean). xportsnews.com. 30 March 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
13. Oh, Se-jin (27 July 2022). 아이유, 역시 본업은 가수!···황제가 돌아온다 [UIU, as expected her main job is a singer!...The Emperor is Back] (in Korean). X Sport News. Retrieved 27 July 2022.

External links

• Seoul Sports Facilities Management Center (in Korean)

Preceded by Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles	Summer Olympics Opening and closing ceremonies (Olympic Stadium) 1988	Succeeded by Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc Barcelona
Preceded by Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles	Summer Olympics Olympic athletics competitions Main venue 1988	Succeeded by Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc Barcelona
Preceded by Rose Bowl Pasadena	Summer Olympics Men's football final venue 1988	Succeeded by Camp Nou Barcelona

37°30′57.200″N 127°4′21.900″E