Seoul Jamsil Sports Complex is a center of sports and culture in South Korea. It was the venue of the opening and closing ceremonies for the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics and it has been a stage for performances from a famous artist, both domestic and international, including BTS, Paul McCartney, and Coldplay. It will also be the main stadium for The 100th National Sports Festival, which will be taking place in October 2019 and it will be the first in Seoul for 33 years. Starting in July, a tour program will be launched that allows ordinary residents to visit and experience various parts of Jamsil Sports Complex, which are otherwise difficult to gain access to.
Visitors can run on the track where star athletes from the 1988 Summer Olympics, including Karl Lewis, the gold medalist in the 100m run, achieved fame. Visitors can also go in the VIP room that was used during the Olympics. Additionally, people can go on the turf field where the matches for the 2013 EAFF E-1 Football Championship took place and look around inside the locker rooms used by professional players of Seoul E-land FC.
The Seoul Sports Facilities Management Center will be running the Jamsil Sports Complex Tour Program from July to October (about four months) and will be accepting individual and group applications for reservation, starting June 20, on a first-come-first-served basis.
The tour will take roughly 60 minutes and participants will get the chance to see ▴ the main facilities of the Seoul Olympic Stadium (the stadium, VIP rooms, locker rooms, etc), ▴ the 1988 Olympic cauldron, ▴ the “Road of Olympic Stars” shows the medals earned by Korean players and exciting game footage, and ▴ the “Music Star Zone” has handprints and stone statues of famous artists who performed at the Seoul Olympic Stadium.
○ Seoul Olympic Stadium: You can run 100m on the track and walk on the natural grass of the soccer stadium. If your image is projected upon the video, you might just feel as though you have become a famous athlete playing in the stadium. You can also visit the VIP room, which was used by the president during the Seoul Olympics and the locker rooms used by the Seoul E-land FC players.
○ Road of Olympic Stars: Here, starting with the statue of Sohn Kee-chung, a gold medal winner at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, visitors can see the present condition of the 245 medals that have been won by Korean athletes up until the 2012 London Olympics and the corresponding game footage, embodied on stainless steel etchings and special glass prints.
○ Music Star Zone: A new space, opened in January 2018, connected to the Road of Olympic Stars. There are stone monuments in honor of foreign artists who performed at the Seoul Olympic Stadium in South Korea, including Michael Jackson (1996), Paul McCartney (2015), Coldplay (2017) and many more. The Handprint Zone opened in April, where visitors can find handprints of Korean musicians, including BTS, Seo Taiji, Cho Yong-pil, and others.
○ Visitors can also visit the “Olympic Exhibition Hall,” where they can view the medals of the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics, donations from the medalists, the original Olympic posters, and related videos.
To apply for a tour reservation, visit the website for the Seoul Public Service Reservation (http://yeyak.seoul.go.kr). The entrance fee is KRW 500 for adults and adolescents, KRW 250 for children, and 30% discount is provided for a group of over 10 people.
○ For more information on the program, visit the Seoul Sports Facilities Management Center’s website or go to the Seoul Public Service Reservation website, linked above. For inquiries and consultation, call the Seoul Sports Facilities Management Center at ☎ +82-2-2240-8971.
Operation of Jamsil Sports Complex Tour for Tourists
1. Period: July-October, 2019
2. Venue: Seoul Olympic Stadium, Road of Olympic Stars, Seoul Olympic Exhibition Hall, and more
3. Contents: Tour program for tourists
Duration: 60 minutes (including the transit between courses)
| Order | Course | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seoul Olympic Exhibition Hall | – Gathering – Watching the exhibition hall |
| 2 | Bukjikmun Gate of Olympic Main Stadium | – Entering the main stadium – Welcome message on the electronic board |
| 3 | Track and turf field | – 100m dash on the Olympic track – Stepping on the grass field (appearing as an athlete on the electronic board) |
| 4 | Locker rooms | – Looking around the locker rooms of E-land FC players |
| 5 | VIP room | – Looking around the VIP room used by the president |
| 6 | VIP lounge | – Looking around the VIP lounge |
| 7 | Olympic cauldron | – Seeing the Olympic cauldron from the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics |
| 8 | Namjikmun Gate of Seoul Olympic Stadium | – Finishing the tour of the Seoul Olympic Stadium |
| 9 | Taking pictures at the photo zone | – Visiting Hodori Square and the Road of Olympic Stars – Ending the tour after taking photos |
5. Procedure
– Issuance of the ticket before the program starts. Gathering at the meeting place (Seoul Olympic Exhibition Hall)
– When tour participants have gathered, the guide will lead them according to the order of the program
6. No. of participants: 900 (30 per tour, 30 times)
7. Schedule
| Month | Times | Session |
|---|---|---|
| July | 10 | 1st session 10 am-11 am |
| August | 5 | 2nd session 2 pm-3 pm (Twice a day) |
| September | 10 | |
| October | 5 |
※ The schedule above could change according to the reservation situation and the condition of the stadium.
8. How to Apply: Reservations are made on a first-come, first-served basis on the website for the Seoul Public Service Reservation. On-site payment via a credit card at a ticket dispenser.
9. Fee: KRW 500 for adults and adolescents, KRW 250 for children (30% discount for groups of over 10 people)
Source: Seoul Metropolitan Government