Rungrado May Day Stadium

The Rungrado 1st of May Stadium does not sit along a street. It stands on Rŭngrado Island in the Taedong River. Inside, the scale of the ground is immediately apparent. The playing surface itself is an artificial turf. This is a deliberate choice made during the renovation ordered by Kim Jong Un in 2013. The original natural grass was stripped away and replaced, a decision that changed the nature of the ground from a traditional pitch to a multi-purpose arena.

The interior retains a distinct character. The stadium was built to house the Arirang Mass Games, an event that turns the field into a stage for thousands of performers. It is not a place for the casual spectator; it is a venue for spectacles. The capacity was reduced from a theoretical maximum of 150,000 to an all-seater configuration of approximately 114,000 to accommodate the modern requirements of international football. This shift allowed the stadium to host matches for the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship qualification, but the primary function remains tied to the state. The original construction cost has variously been cited as USD $210 million or a quarter of the country's yearly budget, figures that reflect the ambition of the project. The stadium fell silent after the collision in Korea wrestling event, but it has since been repurposed for the political calendar of Pyongyang.