World Cup Stadium in Daegu

I was somewhat excited and somewhat anxious at the same time when I was going to Daegu Stadium located at Naehwandong, Suseong-gu after getting off at Tongdaegu Station the day before yesterday.

I was concerned because the stadium is leisurely located under the Daeduk Mountain where it is away from downtown. ``There is no professional soccer team in Daegu….`` I was worrying.

A cab driver comforted me saying ``We are filled with enthusiasm waiting for the World Cub. If a new pro soccer team is formed here, there will be a tons of fans.``

Daegu World Cup Stadium that is surrounded by Daeduk Mountain looked like a space-shuttle waiting for a mighty takeoff.

The stadium which will open on 20th is the third World Cup stadium following the Ulsan’s and Suwon’s stadiums. The construction that started 29th July, 1997 was a huge project for which a total budget of 294.6 billion won and a thousand workers for a peak seasonal employment were consumed.

As soon as I stepped into the stadium, its white teflon-coated roof which is on the top of the 273 meters long arch captured my eyes. The roof that covers 74 percent of the spectator seats providing a pleasant environment is said to be conceptualizing the beauty of the round-shaped roof of a Korean traditional house. Yet, to me, it resembled the image of a glove that embraces all the people in the world.

I could see their efforts to consider the spectators’ convenience in every part of the stadium. For more comfortable viewing, they extend the width of chairs, cutting down the number of seats from 71.000 to 65.857. They also arranged an observatory dinning room to accommodate the common spectators with a wide window to the opposite side of VIP room. The big screen TV is one that can adjust its luminosity by itself with an automatic sensor so that audiences can experience high definition images even in high noon. For audiences’ safety, they put supplementary handrails because the declivity grade of the viewers’ deck is 34 degrees. They also built double outer exits for easier access for exiting and entering.

It is also remarkable to see their effort toward the physically challenged. An exclusive section for the physically challenged has been placed right across from the VIP section. They also installed a section only for the blind.

To create the ambiance of a natural surroundings, they built a water-front park, arranged all various shapes of streetlamps, seven sculptures, and planted more than 200.000 trees.

However, one regrettable aspect was the lack of public transportation. Even though World Cub Road (1.54 Km), Stadium Road (3.65 Km), and Buman Road (4.05Km) were altogether opened on 15th, people had to walk 1.4 Km from the nearest bus stop because bus service routes has not been assigned yet.

Kyung-Duk Kang, the director of Department of Athletic Facility explained, “We will operate shuttle buses at all time until the Confederation Cup.”

Bae Keuk-In bae2150@donga.com