The Olympic Hall at the Olympic Park in eastern Seoul has been renovated as a K-pop concert hall to reopen on June 22, the
Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said. To celebrate the opening of the new building, veteran singers and K-pop idol groups including 2NE1 will be performing at the Olympic Hall Opening Ceremony, alongside Super Junior KRY, 2PM, After School & Baek Ji Young to name a few. Olympic Hall is also reported to be the venue for 2NE1′s 1st Solo Concert to be held at the end of August.

Full Details of the Opening Ceremony

July 19, SEOUL, South Korea — An artist’s rendering of the Olympic Hall to be renovated as a 2,700-seat
multi-purpose performance hall for pop culture. (Photo courtesy of Culture Ministry) (Yonhap)

The ministry and the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation have been remodeling the hall for the past year to expand the size of the stage. The renovated concert hall will have an exhibition room to showcase the history of Korean pop from the 1920s to date. It will also have a small, 240-seat theater for indie musicians and new comers.

July 19, SEOUL, South Korea — An artist’s rendering of the Olympic Hall to be renovated as a 2,700-seat
multi-purpose performance hall for pop culture. (Photo courtesy of Culture Ministry) (Yonhap)

In addition to the Olympic Hall, Korea has four other major concert venues 1) the Olympic Gymnastics Arena (Korea’s largest concert venue and location of the YG Family Concert with seating for approximately 12-15000 concertgoers), 2) Jamsil Gymnasium (with a seating capacity of 7-8000), 3) Grand Peace Palace at Kung Hee University (the location of TaeYang’s Solar Concert with a seating capacity of roughly 4500), and 4) AX-Korea (the location of with a seating capacity of roughly 1-2000).

The country’s music industry has long demanded for a renovation of Olympic Arena or construction of a new concert hall with a comparable in size. However, the astronomical cost associated with renovating and/or building a new facility has derailed plans to improve facilities.

Pre-renovation photo, you can see that the new facility will have an extended stage and
more strategically placed jumbotrons and better lighting among other changes.

Instead of refurbishing Olympic Gymnastics Arena, the goverment chose to renovate Olympic Hall specifically as a concert venue, last year at a cost of 7 billion won. A press release from the ministry last July said that the renovation was undertaken “in light of the global impact of the Korean Wave and to lift the status of pop artists.” News reports from last year claim the venue holds only 2,700 seats. However, recent reports state the Hall can hold up to 4000 concertgoers. It’s unclear at present why there is the 1300 seat discrepancy.

While it would be preferable to those fans wanting tickets for 2NE1 to be in a larger venue, this is a great place for 2NE1. The Olympic Hall was specifically renovated for k-pop concerts, unlike the other concert venues. It is likely to have infinitely better acoustics and lighting then the much older, though larger, Olympic Gymnastic Arena. Although the Jamsil Gymnasium is also larger, YG has repeatedly noted his dislike of the poor acoustics and stage location in that venue. Finally, better acoustics and stage design of the newly remodeled Olympic Hall outweigh the advantages of an additional 500 seats at the Grand Peace Palace.

Even before its revamp, the Olympic Hall was an acceptable venue for concerts. Find below a clip of Lee Eun Mi’s iconic “I Have a Lover” performed at the Olympic Hall last year.

As you can see, the Hall is an intimate venue, but does not seem too small. Moreover, 2NE1′s explosive charisma will shine regardless of the size of the venue.

The Olympic Hall Opening Ceremony should be a great event to see our girls perform and a cool preview of 2NE1′s upcoming concert.