The Seoul Olympic Stadium (), a.k.a. Jamsil Olympic Stadium (formerly romanised as ''Chamshil''), is a multi-purpose stadium in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea. It is the main stadium built for the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

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. It is the largest stadium in South Korea.

Design and construction

This

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used for multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a design philosophy that stres ...

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; seating capacity is 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 The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

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 The Korea Football Association () is the governing body of football and futsal within South Korea. It sanctions professional, semi-professional and amateur football in South Korea. Founded in 1933, the governing body became affiliated with ...

has expressed interest in renovating and modernizing the stadium, transforming it into a permanent ground for national team matches. The events hosted by the stadium during the Olympics were the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, athletics, the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

finals, and the equestrian jumping individual final. The stadium also performed the same functions during the

1988 Summer Paralympics The 1988 Summer Paralympics () were the first Paralympics in 24 years to take place in the same city as the 1988 Summer Olympics, Olympic Games. They took place in Seoul, South Korea. This was the first time the term "Paralympic" was used officia ...

Football

Between the match against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

on 30 September 1984 to the match against

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

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.

List of concerts

Notes

References

External links

Seoul Sports Facilities Management Center
{{WikidataCoord Buildings and structures in Songpa District

Athletics (track and field) venues in South Korea Sports venues in Seoul Football venues in South Korea Korea, South Venues of the 1986 Asian Games Asian Games athletics venues Venues of the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic athletics venues Olympic equestrian venues Stadiums of the Asian Games Seoul E-Land FC Multi-purpose stadiums in South Korea Sports venues completed in 1984 1984 establishments in South Korea K League 2 stadiums 20th-century architecture in South Korea