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