Dongdaemun Stadium

Dongdaemun Stadium was a sports complex in Seoul, South Korea and included a multi-purpose stadium, a baseball park and other sports facilities. It was located near Dongdaemun or Great East Gate. The surrounding Dongdaemun market had many vendors selling athletics-related goods. It was demolished in 2008 to make way for the Dongdaemun Design Plaza & Park.

Dongdaemun Stadium
Korean name
Hangul
동대문운동장
Hanja
Revised RomanizationDongdaemun undongjang
McCune–ReischauerTongdaemun undongjang
Former namesGyeongseong Stadium
Seoul Stadium
LocationEuljiro 7(chil)-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul, Korea
Coordinates37.56758°N 127.010595°E / 37.56758; 127.010595
Capacity22,706
Construction
Broke ground24 May 1925
Opened15 October 1925[1]
Expanded1962, 1966, 1968
Closed2003
Demolished2008
Tenants
Ilhwa Chunma (1989–1995)
LG Cheetahs (1990–1995)
Yukong Elephants (1991–1995)

History

Construction on the main athletics stadium and baseball field began on 24 May 1925 and was opened for use on 15 October 1925 as Gyeongseong Stadium. The venue was the main center for sports events in the city, and along with Kirim Stadium in Pyongyang, it was one of the two venues used in the Gyeongsung-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 15 August 1945, to celebrate the liberation of the peninsula.[2]

Additional construction was undertaken in 1962 to modernize the two existing venues as well as to create a swimming pool, volleyball courts and soft clay tennis courts. Floodlights were added to the baseball venue in 1966 and to the athletics venue in 1968 to allow for nighttime sporting events.

Before its demolition, the athletics stadium was used as a flea market where all types of both new and second hand goods were sold. It formed part of the massive Dongdaemun shopping district, which had been active for 57 years.

Facilities

Football

The main multi-purpose 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 football team from the 1950s to the late 1980s, though it 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 football matches including the quarter-finals at the 1988 Summer Olympics and many matches of the Korea Cup, an international football competition.[3]

The inaugural match of the K League, the first professional football league in South Korea, was held at the athletics venue on 8 May 1983. Ilhwa Chunma (currently Seongnam FC), LG Cheetahs (currently FC Seoul), and Yukong Elephants (currently Jeju United FC) were based at the stadium until 1995, but with the decentralization policy in K League, they relocated away to their current stadiums in 1996.

Others

The inaugural match of the Korean baseball league was held at Dongdaemun Baseball Stadium in 1982.

See also

Notes
  1. 경성운동장 사용규정 (in Korean). The Dong-a Ilbo. 17 October 1925.
  2. Daum encyclopedia entry on Dongdaemun stadium
  3. 1988 Summer Olympics official report. Volume 1. Part 1. pp. 202-3.

References

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