Organising body | Korea Football Association |
---|---|
Founded | 2020 |
Country | South Korea |
Number of clubs | 15 |
Level on pyramid | 3 |
Promotion to | K League 2 (from 2027) |
Relegation to | K4 League |
Domestic cup(s) | Korean FA Cup |
Current champions | Siheung Citizen (2024) |
Most championships | Gimhae FC Gimpo FC Hwaseong FC Changwon City Siheung Citizen (1 title each) |
TV partners | Coupang Play YouTube |
Website | kfa.or.kr (in Korean) |
Current: 2025 K3 League |
K3 League | |
Hangul | K3리그 |
---|---|
Revised Romanization | K3 Rigeu |
McCune–Reischauer | K3 Rigŭ |
The K3 League is the third-highest division in the South Korean football league system. It was run as an amateur league until 2019,but was relaunched as a semi-professional league after absorbing the Korea National League in 2020. It is currently contested by 15 clubs.
The Korean National Semi-Professional Football League was founded in 1964 and lasted until it was replaced by the Korea National League in 2003. The National League (K2 League) was established to introduce the promotion and relegation system between semi-professional clubs and K League clubs. However,National League clubs which formed independent federation were reluctant to invest for their professionalization,and the plan was miscarried due to their refusal. [1]
The Korea Football Association (KFA) continued its plan to complete the South Korean football league system. The KFA made its amateur league K3 League in 2007,and introduced promotion and relegation in the amateur K3 League after dividing it into two divisions K3 League Advanced and K3 League Basic in 2017. [2] Meanwhile,the number of National League clubs gradually decreased,while some of them joined second-tier professional league K League 2 (K League Challenge) or were dissolved due to financial problems. The K3 League Advanced and K3 League Basic were relaunched as semi-professional leagues under the name of K3 League and K4 League respectively,and the National League was merged into the newly-developed K3 League.
At present,there is promotion and relegation between the K3 League and K4 League,but clubs cannot be promoted from K3 to the K League 2. However,the KFA has announced plans to unify the K League system,meaning that from the 2027 season onwards,there will be promotion and relegation between the K3 League and K League 2. [3]
All participating clubs play home and away season in the K3 League. The championship playoffs were contested by top four clubs of the regular season in 2020 and 2021,but were not held in 2022 onwards. The promotion and relegation system exists between the K3 League and the K4 League,although the number of promoted team(s) and relegated team(s) is different every season. [4]
The following clubs are not in the K3 League as of the 2025 season.
Club | Last season | Reason |
---|---|---|
Jeonju Citizen | 2020 | Relegated to K4 League |
Pyeongtaek Citizen | 2021 | |
Dangjin Citizen | 2022 | |
Yangju Citizen | 2023 | |
Daegu FC B | 2024 | |
Gimpo FC | 2021 | Professionalized and promoted to K League |
Cheonan City | 2022 | |
Cheongju FC | ||
Hwaseong FC | 2024 | |
Gyeongju Citizen | 2020 | Dissolved |
Season | Champions | Runners-up |
---|---|---|
2020 | Gimhae FC | Gyeongju KHNP |
2021 | Gimpo FC | Cheonan City |
2022 | Changwon City | Paju Citizen |
2023 | Hwaseong FC | FC Mokpo |
2024 | Siheung Citizen | Hwaseong FC |
Club | Champions | Runners-up | Seasons won | Seasons runner-up |
---|---|---|---|---|
Hwaseong FC | 1 | 1 | 2023 | 2024 |
Gimhae FC | 1 | 0 | 2020 | — |
Gimpo FC | 1 | 0 | 2021 | — |
Changwon City | 1 | 0 | 2022 | — |
Siheung Citizen | 1 | 0 | 2024 | — |
Gyeongju KHNP | 0 | 1 | — | 2020 |
Cheonan City | 0 | 1 | — | 2021 |
Paju Citizen | 0 | 1 | — | 2022 |
FC Mokpo | 0 | 1 | — | 2023 |
The Korea National League was a South Korean semi-professional football league held annually from 2003 to 2019. It was considered the second-highest division of the South Korean football league system before the K League 2 was launched in 2013, and the third-highest division since then.
The K3 League was a South Korean amateur football league held annually from 2007 to 2019. It was considered the third-highest division of the South Korean football league system before the K League 2 was launched in 2013, and the fourth-highest division since then. In 2017, it was divided into K3 League Advanced and fifth-tier league K3 League Basic, and introduced a system of promotion and relegation. In 2020, it was reborn as a semi-professional league after merging with the Korea National League.
The South Korean football league system contains two professional leagues, two semi-professional leagues, and various amateur leagues for Korean football clubs.
The R League, also known as the Korean Professional Football Reserve League, is the league for reserve teams of professional football clubs in South Korea.
Chuncheon Citizen Football Club is a South Korean football club based in Chuncheon, Gangwon. The club plays in the K3 League, the third tier of South Korean football. Chuncheon FC's home ground is Chuncheon Songam Sports Town.
K League (Korean: K리그) is South Korea's professional football league. It includes the first division K League 1 and the second division K League 2. Clubs competing in the K League have won a record total of twelve AFC Champions League titles, the top continental competition for Asian clubs.
The 2017 K3 League Basic was the first season of the K3 League Basic.
Yangpyeong Football Club is a South Korean football club based in the county of Yangpyeong in Gyeonggi Province. The club plays in the K3 League, a semi-professional league and the third tier of league football in South Korea.
The 2019 K3 League Advanced was the 13th and last season of amateur K3 League. After the end of the 2019 season, the K3 League was relaunched as a semi-professional league by Korea Football Association (KFA).
The 2019 K3 League Basic was the third and last season of the K3 League Basic. After the 2019 season, amateur K3 Leagues were relaunched as semi-professional leagues in the name of K3 League and K4 League.
The 2020 K3 League was the first season of the K3 League as a semi-professional league. After the 2019 season, the former Korea National League and K3 League Advanced went defunct and rebranded as the K3 League.
The 2020 K4 League is the first season of the K4 League. The K4 League was regarded as the successor to the K3 League Basic, which was abolished in 2019.
The K4 League is the fourth-highest division in the South Korean football league system. It is regarded as the successor to the K3 League Basic, the second division of amateur K3 League founded in 2017.
The 2021 K4 League is the second season of the K4 League.
This article shows a summary of the 2019 football season in South Korea.
The 2022 K4 League was the third season of the K4 League.
The 2022 K3 League was the third season of the K3 League as a semi-professional league. Its regular season was held from 26 February to 29 October 2022.
The 2023 K4 League was the fourth season of the K4 League.
The 2023 K3 League was the third season of the K3 League as a semi-professional league. Its regular season was held from 11 March to 11 November 2023.
The 2024 K3 League is the fourth season of the K3 League as a semi-professional league. It was held from 2 March to 2 November 2024. The 16 participating teams played each other twice in a double round-robin format.