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The Kim Il Sung stadium is a football stadium in Pyongyang. With a capacity to accommodate about 40,000 fans, it is the second largest stadium in North Korea and is the home to the North Korean national team. The stadium was built in 1926 and then renovated in 1982.
History
The stadium was originally built as the Girimri Stadium in 1926 during the Japanese occupation of North Korea. After the surrender of Japan in August 1945, it was used as a venue for political speeches and it was the site of Kim Il-sung's first speech rally after his return from his exile on 14th October 1945.
It was severely damaged by US bombings in 1950-53. The rebuilding began in 1969 and the stadium was then called Moranbong Stadium. It was renovated in 1982 and renamed in honor of Kim Il-sung.
The stadium had 70,000 seats after the rebuilding, but in light of the renovation in October 2016, Kim Il Sung Stadium now has a capacity of 40,000 people. The stadium has now gotten new stands, athletes’ entrance hall, FIFA office, referees’ office, coach room, interview room, doping control station and a science and technology demo lounge.
Before partition, the stadium was famous for holding the Pyongyang-Seoul derbies as well as the annual Kyung-Pyung football match between Kyungsung SC and Pyongyang SC.
Recent Matches
The AFC Qualifiers between Malaysia and North Korea was played here on 13th November 2017, the home team winning 4-1.
