[6] In 1983, it urgently made the Korean Super League with two professional clubs (Hallelujah FC, Yukong Elephants) and three semi-professional clubs (POSCO Dolphins, Daewoo Royals, Kookmin Bank) to professionalize South Korean football.

In the early years, it also showed a promotion system by giving qualifications to the Semi-professional League winners.

(Hanil Bank in 1984, Sangmu FC in 1985) However, the number of spectators was consistently decreased despite KFA's effort, and so the professional league, renamed as the Korean Professional Football League, operated home and away system to interest fans since 1987.

In 1996, South Korean government and the Football Federation introduced a decentralization policy to proliferate the popularity of football nationally in preparation for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, which they wanted to host.

Several clubs located in the capital Seoul moved to other cities according to the new policy, but this was abolished after only three years and is regarded as a failed policy because it gave up the most populous city in South Korea.

The fact that both the first and the second divisions had very similar names caused some degree of confusion and controversy.

In February 2021, an OTT service for international markets called K League TV was officially launched.

At the time, rules allowed each club to have three foreign players and that the three could also play simultaneously in a game.