Seoul: Three cities are competing to host a new club in South Korean professional football, the league office announced Tuesday. The Korea Professional Football League (K League) stated that Yongin and Paju, both in Gyeonggi Province, and Gimhae, located in South Gyeongsang Province, have submitted their applications to join the K League.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Gimhae and Paju are currently operating semi-professional clubs, Gimhae FC 2008 and Paju Citizen FC, in the K3 League. They plan to transform these teams into full professional clubs, utilizing their existing venues as home stadiums. Gimhae is situated approximately 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, while Paju is about 30 kilometers northwest of the capital.

Yongin, located about 40 kilometers south of Seoul, expressed its interest in hosting a football team in March. Yongin has proposed Yongin Mireu Stadium as the home for its new K League club. The stadium has recently hosted matches for the men's and women's national teams and is set to hold matches during the East Asian Football Federation E-1 Football Championship later this month.

The K League has announced plans to hold a board of directors meeting within 60 days to review the applications from these three cities. One candidate city will then be forwarded to the general assembly for the final approval. Currently, there are 12 teams in the top-flight K League 1 and 14 clubs in the K League 2, with a promotion-relegation system in place.

The second division has expanded by adding three teams since the start of the 2023 season: Chungbuk Cheongju FC, Cheonan City FC, and Hwaseong FC.