Days Out in Korea
Thursday, 15th May 2008 by Rob
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.
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Yes, the Czech Republic's Strahov Stadium seats 220,000, but has been split into 9 different football pitches, so apparently no longer counts. ↩︎
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Kim Il Sung, father of North Korea's current president Kim John-il, is still revered as a God, even fourteen years after his death. Despite leaving his country in economic ruin, over 800 statues still idolise him. ↩︎
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If it can hold 190,000 people, you need only need 123 of such stadiums to harbour all 23+ million North Koreans at the same time.
Interesting imagery… You can follow this multi-lane highway for miles without seeing any car: https://www.googlesightseeing.com/maps?p=&c=&t=h&hl=en&ll=38.959421,125.543582&z=18
On a related note it is also telling that for such huge stadiums neither of them have got a car park. Compare these to arenas and stadiums in the US which are surrounded by an ocean of asphalt. How does one get 190 000 people off and on a small island with one road in and one road out i wonder!
@dr.R – Another example of NK’s flaunting of its imaginary wealth, and an explanation for cookie monsters question!
Another interesting I found out is that Kim Il Sung had a large growth on the back of his neck, but photographers were ordered to shoot photos at a left angle, thus hiding it from view – yet it was the size of a baseball – as you can see from the tenth in this google image selection.
@Cookie Monster: cars? in North Korea? you must be joking
Cookie Monster: There are two roads on and two roads off the island.
Forget the cars- Where are all the people? There are no people on the streets of this vibrant metropolis.
Here’s a nearby waterpark, again with precisely no people.
Mind you, it has no water either.
Look! A bus!
There are occasionally other cars on the roads, but they’re seriously few and far between. What’s the giant arch next to Kim-Il Sung Stadium?
I found a stupidly OTT sculpture as well.
@Alex: Is it the (originally titled)Arch of Triumph? It is absolutely vast – scroll down to see photos here.
There are also three more big stadiums in Pyongyang.
Visiting foreign dignitaries always get a tour of Pyongyang’s subway system. It has gleaming modern stations, well-maintained rolling stock, neatly uniformed employees and happy patrons (and, of course, massive portraits of the Kims). What no one seems to know, however, is whether the system is actually in use. It might just be a showpiece for display to visitors.
What’s with all the blue roofs?
Don’t like blue roofs? How about orange ones? (Apparently they are waiting on delivery of the next one…)
Next!
–Bob