The Seoul Olympic Stadium also known as Jamsil Olympic Stadium (formerly romanised as Chamshil) is located in Seoul, South Korea. It is the main stadium built for the 1988 Summer Olympics and the 10th Asian Games in 1986. It is the centrepiece of the Seoul Sports Complex in the Songpa-gu District, in the southeast of the city south of the Han River. It is multi-purpose stadium was designed by Kim Swoo-geun. The lines of the stadium's profile imitate the elegant curves of a Korean Joseon Dynasty porcelain vase. Spectator seats are distributed on two tiers, totally covered. Initially built with a capacity of approximately 100,000, today it seats 69,950. Prior to its construction, Seoul's largest venues were Dongdaemun Stadium and Hyochang Stadium. Seating 30,000 and 20,000 respectively, they were too small to attract world-class sporting events. Construction on the new stadium began in 1977 with the aim of staging the Asian Games in 1986. However, when Seoul was awarded the Games of the XXIV Olympiad in September 1981, this stadium became the centrepiece.
The stadium opened on 29 September 1984, and served as the site for the 10th Asian Games two years later, then the Olympics in 1988. However, it was not used to stage a major world-sporting event since then. It currently has no occupant, although the Korea Football Association has expressed interest in utilizing the stadium for national team matches once again.
From the match against Japan on 30 September 1984 to the match against Yugoslavia on 28 May 2000, the Olympic Stadium was the holy land of the Korea Republic national football team. The then newly built Sangam Stadium then became the center match venue for the Korean team. However, in an effort to revitalize football across the nation, Korea once again used the Olympic Stadium for the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup in a 1-2 losing match against Japan on 28 July 2013. The KFA has expressed interest in continuing to use the venue for future national team matches.
In 2015, newly formed professional football club Seoul E-Land FC based in Seoul is planning to use this stadium.
