South Korean football league system
The South Korean football league system contains two professional leagues, two semi-professional leagues and three amateur leagues for Korean football clubs.
The highest level of football in South Korea is the K League 1 which was founded in 1983. K League 2 was founded in 2013 and is currently a second division. Below the level of the professional leagues is the semi-professional K3 League was founded in 2007, refounded in 2020 and K4 League was founded in 2020, which serves as the third division and fourth division, respectively.
There was no avenue for progression between any of the leagues until 2012, when the K League 2 was founded.
System by period
was a semi-professional football league between corporate teams in South Korea from 1964 to 2002. In 1983, with the establishment of K League which is a professional league, Semi-professional League became the second tier and remained until 2002 before Korea National League was officially founded in 2003. The third tier K3 League was founded as an amateur league in 2007, and became the fourth tier after K League 2, the second division of the professional league, was founded in 2013. K3 League also divided into the Advanced and the Basic, and they became semi-professional leagues with new names, K3 League and K4 League, after the merger of National League in 2020.| Professional leagues |
| Semi-professional leagues |
| Amateur leagues |
Current system
Outside this league structure, there are university, reserve and youth level competitions. University clubs' U-League and reserve teams' R League are operating independently from the league system.| Level | League / Division | Difficulty |
| 1 | K League 1 12 clubs ↓ 1 relegation spot + 1 relegation playoff spot | Professional |
| 2 | K League 2 10 clubs ↑ 1 promotion spot + 1 promotion playoff spot No relegation | Professional |
| 3 | K3 League 16 clubs No promotion ↓ 2 relegation spots + 1 relegation playoff spot | Semi-professional |
| 4 | K4 League 13 clubs ↑ 2 promotion spots + 1 promotion playoff spot No relegation | Semi-professional |
| 5 | K5 League 66 clubs / 11 regions No promotion ↓ 11 relegation spot | Amateur |
| 6 | K6 League 199 clubs / 31 regions ↑ 11 promotion spot ↓ 30 relegation spot | Amateur |
| 7 | K7 League 1127 clubs / 178 regions ↑ 30 promotion spot ↓ relegation spot | Amateur |
| 8– | Regional competitions ↑ promotion spot | Amateur |