The Rungrado 1st of May Stadium () is a

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 ...

occupying an area of on the island Rŭngrado,

Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...

, North Korea. It opened on 1 May 1989, with its first major event being the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students. It is the second largest stadium in the world by seating capacity, after Narendra Modi Stadium. The stadium can officially hold up to a maximum of 114,000 spectators.

Uses

The stadium is currently used for football matches, a few athletics events, and most often for the mass games of the Arirang Festival.

Design

The stadium's scalloped roof features 16

arch An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...

es arranged in a ring, and resembles a

magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

blossom. It hosts events on a main pitch covering . Its total floor space is over across eight stories, and the lobes of its roof peak at more than above the ground. The stadium was originally built with an official capacity of 150,000. After a 2014 remodel which included the replacement of some bench seating with individual seats, observers estimated a new capacity of approximately 114,000. It was later confirmed in November 2022 that the stadium is still expandable up to 150,000.

History

After 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 ...

had been awarded to

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 ...

, North Korea intensified its efforts to present itself as the legitimate Korean state. As part of these efforts, it successfully bid to organize the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students in Pyongyang in 1989. Massive construction projects were initiated in preparation for the festival, one of which was the Rungrado 1st of May Stadium. At the time of completion, it was the largest stadium ever built in Asia. While the stadium is used for sporting events, it is more frequently the site of massive performances and shows celebrating President

Kim Il Sung Kim Il Sung (born Kim Song Ju; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he led as its first Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader from North Korea#Founding, its establishm ...

and the North Korean nation. In June–July 2002, it was the site of the giant Arirang Festival gymnastic and artistic performance. The extravaganza involved over 100,000 participants—double the number of spectators, and was open to foreigners. These performances are now an annual feature in Pyongyang, usually in August and September. The event was recognized by the

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

in 2007 as the largest gymnastics display ever, with 100,090 participants. Collision in Korea, the largest

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

pay-per-view event ever, was held at Rungrado Stadium on 28–29 April 1995. Attendance was 150,000 and 190,000, respectively, according to local authorities. After a two-year renovation project, the stadium reopened in 2015. In July 2017, the Rungrado Stadium played host to six group stage matches as part of 2018 AFC U-23 Championship qualification. In the September 2018 inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang, President

Moon Jae-in Moon Jae-in (, ; born January 24, 1953) is a South Korean politician and former lawyer who served as the 12th president of South Korea from 2017 to 2022. Before his presidency, he served as the senior secretary for civil affairs and the Chief ...

of South Korea gave a speech with Chairman

Kim Jong Un Kim Jong Un (born 8 January 1983 or 1984) is a North Korean politician and dictator who has served as supreme leader of North Korea since 2011 and general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is the third son of Kim ...

to 150,000 North Korean spectators. The speech has themes of unification, peace, and cooperation. published 19 September 2018 Arirang News In July 2019, Kim Jong Un hosted

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

general secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...

to a special Grand Mass Gymnastics and Artistic performance called "Invincible Socialism", on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of

China–North Korea relations The bilateral relations between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) (, ) have been generally friendly, although they have been somewhat strained in recent years because of North Korea and weap ...

. On 31 December 2022, a concert was held on the grounds of the stadium, commemorating the New Year's Eve, which was presided over by Kim Jong Un and along with other high-profile

Workers' Party of Korea The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), also called the Korean Workers' Party (KWP), is the sole ruling party of North Korea. Founded in 1949 from a merger between the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of South Korea, the WPK is ...

officials. Since then, Rungrado has been the main host venue for New Year's Eve celebrations.

Notable events

*Opening and closing ceremonies of the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students in 1989 * Collision in Korea professional wrestling event in 1995 * 2018 Inter-Korean Summit Pyongyang

Annual events

* Arirang Festival *

Pyongyang Marathon Pyongyang International Marathon, previously known as Mangyongdae Prize International Marathon, is an annual marathon race contested each April in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. The marathon was held for the first time in 1981 for men, a ...

References

External links

Rungnado May Day Stadium 360 degree panorama

Rungnado May Day Stadium view from above
{{Authority control 1989 establishments in North Korea Athletics (track and field) venues in North Korea Event venues established in 1989 Football venues in North Korea Multi-purpose stadiums in North Korea

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

Sports venues completed in 1989 Sports venues in Pyongyang 20th-century architecture in North Korea