Rungrado 1st of May Stadium

Rungrado 1st of May Stadium, stadium in P’yŏngyang, North Korea, that was completed in 1989.

Rungrado 1st of May Stadium, built on Rungra Island on the Taedong River, is the world’s largest-capacity stadium, with 150,000 seats. It stands eight stories high, and its total floor area covers 2,228,129 square feet (207,000 square meters).

The stadium was erected following neighboring South Korea’s success in hosting the 1988 Olympic Games. It was built to demonstrate North Korea’s own sporting prowess. It was inaugurated on May 1, 1989, and is also known as Rungrado May Day Stadium, which honors the international day commemorating the labor movement as well as the stadium’s inauguration date. Since its completion, it has become the main venue for national celebrations as well as sports events.

The stadium’s oval shape is composed of 16 concrete arches. Although they resemble an open parachute, they were created to be evocative of a lotus blossom floating on the Taedong. The arches also represent the waving scarves and flags used during P’yŏngyang’s commemorative shows. Despite its oversized dimensions, the structure has an elegance unusual in North Korean official architecture and makes strong reference to works of famous Western architects such as Pier Luigi Nervi and Eero Saarinen. Boasting a canopy measuring 197 feet (60 meters) in length, the stadium is an entire sports village with many facilities, including a swimming pool, running tracks, a table tennis room, a miniature golf course, indoor training rooms, and athletic dormitories.

The stadium has hosted football (soccer) games—most notably between North Korea and South Korea—as well as the Arirang Festival, or Arirang Mass Games, a large gymnastics event that was first held in 2002 to commemorate the birthdays of political leaders Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong Il. In 2000 the stadium achieved global recognition when it celebrated the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to North Korea.