South Korea's adult soccer, which spans professional, semi-professional, and amateur levels, is about to get a promotion system.

The Korea Football Association announced on Monday that it has recently reached an agreement with the professional soccer league to implement a promotion system between the second division (K-League 2) and the third division (K3 League). The teams will be promoted and relegated in 2027 based on their performance in the 2026 season," the KFA announced. Promotion between the fourth (K4) and fifth (K5) divisions will also be implemented at the same time.

"This will effectively complete the promotion system for all adult soccer in South Korea, from the first division of professional soccer to the seventh division of recreational soccer, in three years," the association said. It will be 44 years since the first professional soccer league was established in 1983."

Currently, Korean soccer only has a promotion system between the professional (K League 1 and 2), semi-professional (K League 3 and 4), and amateur (K League 5, 6, and 7) leagues. Promotion has been in place for more than a decade between the first and second divisions of the professional league, and since 2021, promotion has also been introduced between the K3 and K4 leagues. The amateur leagues, K5 through K7, have had their own promotion system since 2020.

However, there is no link between professional-semi-professional and semi-professional-amateur, and it has been a long-standing challenge for Korean soccer to realize a complete promotion system across the adult leagues.

The Korea Football Association said, "The association and the professional leagues have been in discussions in recent years to implement the full implementation of the promotion system across the first through seventh divisions. In particular, the two sides have gradually narrowed their differences over the implementation of the promotion system between the second division (K League 2) and the third division (K League 3), which was a key issue, and have reached an agreement."

According to the implementation policy developed by the association and the professional league, in order for a K3 League team to be promoted to the K League 2, it must win the K3 League that season while obtaining a K League Club License from the Professional Football Association. The K League club license sets out the basic requirements for a professional team, including stadium facilities, staffing levels, and youth team development. If any K3 League team meets these requirements in a given season, they will be promoted between the second and third divisions. On the other hand, if there are no teams that fulfill the requirements for promotion to the 2nd Division, there will be no relegation to the 3rd Division. The detailed implementation method, such as a promotion playoff between the lowest team in the second division and the highest team in the third division, or automatic promotion, will continue to be discussed and decided upon.

The K4 and K5 leagues will also be promoted together starting in 2027. The top 토토사이트 two teams (1st and 2nd) in the K5 League in a given season will be promoted to the K4 League the following season, provided they meet the requirements for a K4 League club license.

However, even if a team is promoted from K5 to K4, the relegation of K4 teams will be temporarily suspended. The Korea Football Association explained, "The relegation was temporarily put on hold in consideration of the expansion of the number of K4 teams and the differences in the environment between the K4 League, which is currently semi-professional, and the K5 League, where club players play."

Meanwhile, to expand the professional soccer market, the association and the professional league decided to have a fast-track rule, including an exception clause that allows local governments with a population of 500,000 or more or companies within the top 100 domestic companies to directly create a professional team to enter the K League 2 after 2027. Also, to expand the K4 League and strengthen its foundation, new teams that acquire a K4 club license for the time being after 2027 can participate in the K4 League directly without going through the K5 League.