The K3 League is the third tier of

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 ...

, which was created from the rebranding of the

Korea National League 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, ...

(2003–2019) and the former K3 League (2007–2019) into K3 League and

K4 League The K4 League is the fourth tier of the South Korean football league system. After 2019, the semi-professional Korea National League and the former amateur K3 League were rebranded into the current K3 League and K4 League. Competition format T ...

in 2020. 16 teams are currently playing in the league.

History

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 semi-professional league of South Korea, began in 1964 and lasted until it was replaced by the

(KNL) in 2003. 15 clubs played in the new KNL. With the establishment of the

K League Challenge 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 ...

(currently K League 2) as a second-tier professional league in 2013, the number of clubs in the KNL decreased. Since 2017, only eight clubs participated in the KNL. Meanwhile, the amateur

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 ...

developed its own promotion and relegation systems with the Advanced Tier and the Basic Tier. In 2015, the Korea Football Association announced its plan of structural reform to merge the KNL and K3 League. The plan was realized in the late 2019, in which the KNL and the former K3 League were rebranded into the current K3 League and

. In 2020, the new K3 League was launched with the total of 16 teams, consisting of the eight teams from the KNL and seven teams (six from the Advanced Tier and one from the Basic Tier) from the former K3 League.

Competition format

The promotion and relegation system exists between the K3 League and the

. In 2020, the K3 League will have 16 teams played one stage double round-robin again total 30 of games. Teams will not be able to promote to the higher tier since 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 ...

is played under the different league system. However, the teams will be able to get relegated to the K4 League. In 2021, the

promotion and relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

system between

and K3 League had been planned following the start from 2023 season. In 2023, the season to feature promotion and relegation starting from this season, relegation from the

to the K3 League will be introduced.

Current clubs

Former clubs

The list does not include promoted or relegated clubs.

Champions

Titles by season

Titles by club

Clubs in bold compete in the top flight as of the 2023 season. Clubs in ''italic'' no longer exist

References

External links

K3 League official website
at KFA {{Football in South Korea 2020 establishments in South Korea 3 Sports leagues established in 2020 Third level football leagues in Asia Professional sports leagues in South Korea