Dongdaemun Stadium
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Dongdaemun Stadium, in Seoul, South Korea, is comprised of a multi-purpose athletics stadium, a baseball park, and other sports facilities.
Construction on the main athletics stadium and baseball field began on May 26, 1925 and was opened for use in March 1926 as the Kyungsung Stadium. The venue was the main center for sports events in the city, and, along with the Kirim Stadium in Pyongyang, was one of the two venues used in the Kyungsung-Pyongyang inter-city soccer tournament in the 1930s.
The stadium was the location for mass celebrations of the end of Japanese colonial rule, as almost 250,000 citizens gathered at the venue on August 15, 1945, to celebrate the liberation. [1]
Additional construction was undertaken in 1962 to modernize the two existing venues as well as create a swimming pool, volleyball courts and soft clay tennis courts. Floodlights were added to the baseball venue in 1996 and the athletics venue in 1968 to allow for nighttime sporting events.
The main athletics stadium remained the main center for sports events in Seoul until the Seoul Sports Complex was built for the 1988 Olympic Games. It was the home venue for the South Korean national soccer team from the 1950s to the late 1980s, though continued to be used into the 1990s until the last international match was played there, against Myanmar in 2000.
The 30,000-seat main stadium also hosted some soccer matches at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
Nowadays the athletics stadium is used as a flea market where all types of both new and second hand goods are sold. It forms part of the massive Dongdaemun shopping district.
[edit] Facts
- It is often used for special events, for example the first ever game of the Korean baseball league was held here in 1982.
- The first round of the K-League, the first professional soccer league in South Korea, was held at the athletics venue on May 8, 1983.
- It is located near the Dongdaemun or Great East Gate and the surrounding Dongdaemun market has many vendors selling athletics related goods.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
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