Seoul, the capital of South Korea will welcome the world to the grand opening of what will be the largest World Cup games ever, Friday, as the 600-year-old city is where the curtain rises on the first World Cup of the new millennium, the first to be co-hosted by two nations, South Korea and Japan and the first to be held in Asia. Out of the hundreds of thousands of visitors expected to fly into the country during the month-long soccer gala, Seoul metropolitan government predicts up to 80% will stay in Seoul, which is why many are saying a successful co-hosting of the World Cup may rest in the hands of this one city.

"We've prepared for the World Cup games under three themes; environment, culture, and the citizens. To begin with, the Seoul World Cup Stadium has been built on what used to be the city's waste dump," noted an official in charge of preparations.

Located in western Seoul is Korea's main and Asia's largest stadium and the waste dump turned state-of-the-art facility, can seat some 65,000 spectators at a time. It's also covered by a roof taking the shape of a traditional kite that symbolizes Korea's spirit and culture.

The Seoul World Cup Stadium will stage the opening match between France and Senegal on May 31, to be followed by a preliminary match between Turkey and China on June 13 and one semi-final match between teams from groups B, D, E, or G.

In the meantime, more than 10.3 million residents of Seoul, or about a quarter of the total national population are doing their utmost to give visitors a reason to return to this city.

"A lot of the people are really helpful you've got a lot of information booths. So, when I ask them, where can I buy ticket, where can I buy souvenirs, they've all been helpful. And they speak English, which is good," observed one foreign tourist.

The Seoul World Cup Stadium will go down in history books as the venue where it all began, where the kick-off whistle was blown for Asia's first FIFA World Cup games.

(Arirang TV)