en K3 League

K3 League
Hangul	K3리그
Revised Romanization	K3 Rigeu
McCune–Reischauer	K3 Rigŭ

K3 League
Organising body	Korea Football Association
Founded	2020; 5 years ago
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

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.

History

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]

Competition format

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]

Clubs

Current clubs

Team	City	Stadium	Manager	First season	Current spell	Seasons^[a]	Last title
Busan Transportation Corporation	Busan	Busan Gudeok Stadium	Park Sang-in	2020	2020–	6	—
Changwon FC	Changwon	Changwon Football Center	Choi Kyung-don	2020	2020–	6	2022
Chuncheon FC	Chuncheon	Chuncheon Stadium	Jeong Seon-woo	2020	2023–	4	—
Daejeon Korail	Daejeon	Daejeon Hanbat Sports Complex	Kim Seung-hee	2020	2020–	6	—
Gangneung City	Gangneung	Gangneung Stadium	Park Moon-young	2020	2020–	6	—
Gimhae FC	Gimhae	Gimhae Public Stadium	Kim Gwi-hwa	2020	2020–	6	2020
Gyeongju KHNP	Gyeongju	Gyeongju Civic Stadium	Uh Yong-kuk	2020	2020–	6	—
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors B	Jeonju	Wanju Public Stadium	Ahn Dae-hyeon	2025	2025–	1 (debut)	—
FC Mokpo	Mokpo	Mokpo International Football Center	Kim Jung-Hyuk	2020	2020–	6	—
Paju Citizen	Paju	Paju Public Stadium	Oh Won-jae	2021	2021–	5	—
Pocheon Citizen	Pocheon	Pocheon Stadium	Kim Jae-hyung	2022	2022–	4	—
Siheung Citizen	Siheung	Jeongwang Sports Park	Jeong Seon-uh	2022	2022–	4	—
Ulsan Citizen	Ulsan	Ulsan Stadium	Yoon Kyun-sang	2021	2021–	5	—
Yangpyeong FC	Yangpyeong	Yongmun Sports Park	Kim Gyeong-bum	2023	2023–	3	—
Yeoju FC	Yeoju	Yeoju Stadium	Oh Ju-po	2024	2024–	2	—

^ As of the start of the 2025 season.

Former clubs

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	2022
Hwaseong FC	2024
Gyeongju Citizen	2020	Dissolved

Champions

Champions by season

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

Performance by club

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

References

^ N리그, 승격제 폐지 합의… 아이엔지 '퇴출' (in Korean). Sports Hankook. 7 March 2008. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
^ 아마추어리그, 디비전 시스템 추진...2020년까지 4부 리그 확대 (in Korean). InterFootball. 23 December 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
^ Paik, Ji-hwan (28 March 2024). "K League to unify promotion-relegation system across all 7 leagues". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
^ "Breaking: K3 and K4 League Teams Confirmed". K League United. 19 December 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2019.

External links

Official website at KFA (in Korean)

[5] As of the start of the 2025 season.

[1] N리그, 승격제 폐지 합의… 아이엔지 '퇴출' (in Korean). Sports Hankook. 7 March 2008. Retrieved 18 June 2023.

[k3_knl-2] 아마추어리그, 디비전 시스템 추진...2020년까지 4부 리그 확대 (in Korean). InterFootball. 23 December 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2020.

[3] Paik, Ji-hwan (28 March 2024). "K League to unify promotion-relegation system across all 7 leagues". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 22 April 2024.

[kleague-4] "Breaking: K3 and K4 League Teams Confirmed". K League United. 19 December 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2019.

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K3 League