Kim Il-sung Stadium


Kim Il-sung Stadium is the name of a large multi-purpose stadium located in Pyongyang, the capital city of North Korea.

History

Kim Il-sung Stadium was originally built as the Girimri Stadium in 1926. This stadium held the annual Kyung-Pyong Football Match between Kyungsung FC and Pyongyang FC during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.
After the division of Korea, it was used as a venue for speeches by politicians. On 14 October 1945, it was the site of Kim Il-sung's victory speech after the liberation of Pyongyang, called "Every Effort for the Building of a New Democratic Korea."
Most of the stadium was destroyed during the 1950-1953 Korean War, mostly by U.S. aerial bombing of the capital city during those years. Rebuilt in 1969, it was then called Moranbong Stadium, but in April 1982 it was renovated and renamed in honour of Kim Il-sung. It is used mainly for football matches, and hosted the mass games until the 1990s.

Present day

Today, the Kim Il-sung stadium is used as the home ground for the North Korea national football team, the North Korea women's national football team and the Pyongyang City Sports Club and Kigwancha Sports Club.
In 2008, on two occasions, a 2010 World Cup qualifying match between North and South Korea, due to be played in Pyongyang, had to be moved to Shanghai when authorities in the North refused to allow the South Korean national anthem to be played in Kim Il-sung Stadium, or the flag of South Korea to be flown, as North and South Korea have never granted each other formal diplomatic recognition.
The start and finish of the annual Pyongyang Marathon occurs at Kim Il-sung Stadium.