[1][2] It was an effort by the Government of South Korea and the K League Federation to increase popularity of football nationwide before the 2002 FIFA World Cup for which they bid.
[3] In accordance with it, the three K League clubs, Yukong Elephants, Ilhwa Chunma and LG Cheetahs, moved from Seoul to Bucheon, Cheonan and Anyang, respectively, in 1996.
[4] By 1995, there had been three professional football clubs based in Seoul: Ilhwa Chunma, LG Cheetahs and Yukong Elephants.
K League Federation wanted to spread football popularity nationally and secure football-specific stadiums for bidding of 2002 FIFA World Cup.
In order to achieve this goal, K League and Blue House[5][6] forced all three clubs in Seoul to move to other cities.
[17] But many candidate companies (including KT Corporation and Kumho Asiana Group), which received proposal from KFA and K League, refused to found a new Seoul-based club.