The Korea National League was a
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
n
semi-professional
Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a consid ...
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
league held annually from 2003 to 2019. It was considered the second-highest division of the
South Korean football league system
The South Korean football league system contains two professional leagues, two semi-professional leagues, and various amateur leagues for Korean football clubs.
The highest level of football in South Korea is the K League 1, which was founded in 1 ...
before the
K League 2
The K League 2 (Hangul: K리그2) is the men's second-highest division of the South Korean football league system. It is contested between thirteen professional clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the K League 1.
Hi ...
was launched in 2013, and the third-highest division since then.
History
The Korea National League was officially founded in the name of ''K2 League'' in 2003 to execute a plan to professionalize the
Korean National Semi-Professional Football League
The Korean National Semi-professional Football League was contested between South Korean works teams and military teams from 1964 to 2002. It was the predecessor of the Korea National League which was founded in 2003.
History
After the introduct ...
. The participating clubs of the National League had to have their hometowns unlike in the Semi-professional League era.
In 2006, the K2 League was rebranded as the Korea National League, and its champions were decided to promote to the
K League. However,
Goyang KB Kookmin Bank and
Hyundai Mipo Dockyard
Hyundai Mipo Dockyard is one of the largest shipbuilding companies with world share rank 1 (50%) in PC (Product Carrier). Since the 1980s, more than 10,000 ships were repaired and converted until 2005 and 400 newly ordered ships were delivered ...
, the champions of the 2006 and 2007 season respectively, judged that they couldn't derive benefit from their professionalization, and rejected their promotion. The
Korea Football Association and the K League Federation eventually prepared another project to found the second-tier professional league which is irrelevant to the National League.
At the end of 2019, the Korea National League was absorbed into the
K3 League
The K3 League is the third tier of South Korean football league system, which was created from the rebranding of the Korea National League (2003–2019) and the former K3 League (2007–2019) into K3 League and K4 League in 2020. 16 teams are ...
.
All-time clubs
Champions
List of champions
Titles by club
Sponsorship
See also
*
South Korean football league system
The South Korean football league system contains two professional leagues, two semi-professional leagues, and various amateur leagues for Korean football clubs.
The highest level of football in South Korea is the K League 1, which was founded in 1 ...
*
Korean Semi-professional Football League
*
K3 League
The K3 League is the third tier of South Korean football league system, which was created from the rebranding of the Korea National League (2003–2019) and the former K3 League (2007–2019) into K3 League and K4 League in 2020. 16 teams are ...
*
Korea National League Championship
Korea National League Championship was a football league cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particu ...
*
List of foreign Korea National League players
This is a list of foreign players in the Korea National League.
* Players in bold are currently playing in the Korea National League.
* As for dual citizen, nationality is listed under Korea National League player official registration.
* Foreign ...
References
External links
Official website
Twitter
{{Football in South Korea
3
2003 establishments in South Korea
Sports leagues established in 2003
Third level football leagues in Asia