South Korean football league system

The South Korean football league system contains two professional leagues, a semi-professional league and amateur leagues for Korean football clubs.

The highest level of football in South Korea is the K League Classic which was founded in 1983. K League Challenge was founded in 2013 and is currently a second division. Below the level of the professional leagues is the semi-professional National League, which serves as the third division. The amateur K3 League, which is being considered the fourth division, was added to the setup in 2007.

National League and K3 League are called the third division and the fourth division for convenience, but they are disrelated and individual leagues.

There was no avenue for progression between any of the leagues until 2012, when the K League Challenge was founded.

Korea Semi-Professional Football League was a semi-professional football league between corporate teams in South Korea from 1964 to 2002. In 1983, with the establishment of K-League, Korea Semi-Professional Football League became the second tier and remained until 2002 before Korea National League, at that time called K2 League, was officially founded in 2003. Fourth tier K3 League was founded in 2007. K League Challenge was created in 2013.

The K League was created in 1983 and remained the only officially organized league competition in the country until the creation of the National League in 2003. The K3 League was created in 2007, and divided into two leagues starting from 2017.

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