Normally considered to be places of fun and pleasure, perhaps the last country you would expect to find the world’s largest stadium is in North Korea, one of the most isolated nations on the planet. However with the capacity to seat 150,000 people, the Rungado May Day Stadium is the biggest stadium of its kind in the world.¹

During a professional wrestling match in 1995 the stadium held 190,000 people simultaneously, with crowds sprawling in its 8-tiered seating and across its 207,000m² pitch. The lofty canopies stretch 60m into the sky at their peaks.

This being North Korea however, the stadium’s primary use is actually to celebrate the President, Kim Jong-il, who holds elaborate parades and displays of power here each May Day. Even more disturbingly, during the 1990s a number of army generals were apparently executed by being burned alive here.

The petal-shaped structure is not the only major stadium in the city, though. Just a few hundred metres away, there’s another massive presidential ego boost - Kim-Il Sung Stadium², which can seat a not unimpressive 70,000 people.

A massive amount of entertainment, don’t you think, for a country where the GDP per capita fails to reach £1000, and 1 in 4 of the country’s 23 million people are short of food?

Of course the money handling skills of the North Korean leaders are infamous, as demonstrated so clearly by the previously featured Ryugyong Hotel which would have been the world’s tallest hotel - if they could have afforded to finish it.

You can read more about the Rungado May Day Stadium at Wikipedia and on The Guardian’s website.

We’ve previously featured Mexico’s giant flags but this is the world’s largest unsupported flagpole in Jordan. Narrowly beating the previous record holder in UAE, the flagpole is 126.8 metres tall, is illuminated at night and can apparently be seen from as far as 20km away. Basically, it’s very big.

But it’s not that big! The world’s tallest supported flagpole is on the border of North and South Korea and towers over the land at 160m. Basically, it’s very, very big.

Thanks: Jerry Mills & Me

North Korea’s former dictator, Kim Il-Sung (Kim Jong-Il’s father) is held in very high esteem, as shown by this absolutely gigantic bronze statue of the “Eternal Leader” who died in 1994.

This ground level photo should give you an idea of the sheer scale of the monument, where couples visit to lay a wreath just before they get married.

Thanks: eRez

This is the striking (and huge) Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea. It’s a 330-metre-tall pyramid-shaped building with 3,000 rooms, and was supposed to have 7 revolving restaurants, except they never actually finished it. Wikipedia says:

newspapers estimated the cost of construction was $750 million - 2% of North Korea’s GDP - and it is generally assumed construction came to a halt in 1992 due to lack of funding, acute electricity shortages, and the prevailing famine.

The building itself is complete, however it has no windows, fixtures or fittings - which makes it officially the world’s Tallest Unoccupied Building! In fact, it’s the tallest building by far in North Korea, the 18th tallest building in the entire world, and if it were ever to be completed, would be the world’s tallest hotel. Here’s a picture which really gives you a great impression of scale.

Thanks to Keith T, Soren Ragsdale, Josh Weinberg, zmaster and Jon Gaspar.

There’s a couple of airfields in North Korea that airplane buffs and wannabe spies will enjoy browsing.

Taechon airfield has numerous biplanes sitting in little bunkers and a couple more randomly parked on the runway. One submitter reckoned they could be AN-2 Colts.

Kaechon airfield has loads of unidentifiable planes sitting at the south end of the runway. Following a small road leads to more planes, perhaps a service area? Also off the same road is what appears to be a cave entrance with another plane (maybe two) blocking the way. I wonder what else they’ve got hidden in there?

Thanks: kb, Michael Davis, Steve Rot, Marc Armstrong, Joey, Pete, Tiger Wang, toufox, Kowy, Ranty B, BenQ, DJ Swammi & TGM.

When North Korea, China and the United Nations Command (UNC) signed the 1953 armistice which effectively ended the Korean War, they did so in a village called P’anmunjÅ?m. After the cease-fire was signed, construction began on a site located about one kilometre east of the village, the Joint Security Area (JSA). The three blue buildings straddle the border between North and South korea, and were designed and built by the UN to allow delegates from North Korea to enter one end, and delegates from South Korea to enter through the other. All meetings between the two countries have taken place in the JSA since its completion.

History lesson over If you’d like a more complete lesson, try the Wikipedia pages on the Korean War and P’anmunjÅ?m.

Thanks to Andry.

There isn’t much high res imagery in North Korea but in the thin slice that is visible there is a wacking great river. I’ve counted no less than three hulking dams on this river. They certainly seem to like their hydro electricity. There was also that big explosion in North Korea last year that was blamed on them blasting half a mountain away, to build another dam.

Check out this weird section of image that woowoowoo found in North Korea. He said:

Somehow a whole chunk of data has inverted colours - taken into Photoshop and inverted, it looks much more correct.

In our first thumbnail you can see a section of the image as it appears on Google Maps, and our second image is the exact same image after the colours were inverted in Photoshop.