# 2020 K3 League

The 2020 K3 League was the first season of the K3 League as a semi-professional league. After the 2019 season, the former Korea National League and K3 League Advanced went defunct and rebranded as the K3 League.
Eight National League teams, six K3 League Advanced teams and two K3 League Basic teams entered in the 2020 season. The 16 participating teams were divided into two groups, the top eight and the bottom eight, after playing each other once. Each team played 22 matches including 7 group stage matches. The 15th and 16th-placed teams were directly relegated to the K4 League, and the 14th-placed team advanced to the relegation play-off.

## Teams
### Stadiums and locations

| Club | City | Stadium | Capacity |
| Busan Transportation Corporation | Busan | Busan Gudeok Stadium | 24,363 |
| Changwon City | Changwon | Changwon Football Center | 15,116 |
| Cheonan City | Cheonan | Cheonan Football Center | 15,500 |
| Cheongju FC | Cheongju | Cheongju Stadium | 17,264 |
| Chuncheon FC | Chuncheon | Chuncheon Stadium | 20,000 |
| Daejeon Korail | Daejeon | Daejeon Hanbat Sports Complex | 17,371 |
| Gangneung City | Gangneung | Gangneung Stadium | 33,000 |
| Gimhae FC | Gimhae | Gimhae Public Stadium | 25,000 |
| Gimpo Citizen | Gimpo | Gimpo Sports Complex | 5,068 |
| Gyeongju Citizen | Gyeongju | Gyeongju Civic Stadium | 12,199 |
| Gyeongju KHNP | Gyeongju | Gyeongju Civic Stadium | 12,199 |
| Hwaseong FC | Hwaseong | Hwaseong Stadium | 35,270 |
| Jeonju Citizen | Jeonju | Jeonju Stadium | 30,000 |
| Mokpo City | Mokpo | Mokpo International Football Center | 5,952 |
| Pyeongtaek Citizen | Pyeongtaek | Sosabeol Reports Town | 15,000 |
| Yangju Citizen | Yangju | Godeok Artificial Turf Ground | 5,000 |

### Foreign players

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | AFC player |
| Changwon FC | Takuma Ishibashi | | | |
| Cheonan City | Jerry van Ewijk | | | |
| Gimhae FC | Carlinhos | | | |
| Gimpo Citizen | Ismael Jorge Balea | | | |
| Hwaseong FC | Olivier Bonnes | | | |
| Pyeongtaek Citizen | Matheus | Wictor Hugo | Abdoulie Gomez | Hirotomo Kawazu |
| Yangju Citizen | Martin Sawi | Paul Puk Kun Pal | | |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Gimhae FC (C) | 22 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 39 | 18 | +21 | 49 | Qualification for Championship final |
| 2 | Gyeongju KHNP | 22 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 38 | 20 | +18 | 42 | Qualification for Championship semi-final |
| 3 | Gangneung City | 22 | 13 | 3 | 6 | 30 | 15 | +15 | 42 | Qualification for Championship first round |
| 4 | Busan Transportation Corporation | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 36 | 17 | +19 | 41 | Qualification for Championship first round |
| 5 | Mokpo City | 22 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 39 | 30 | +9 | 33 | |
| 6 | Hwaseong FC | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 29 | 27 | +2 | 33 | |
| 7 | Daejeon Korail | 22 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 30 | 18 | +12 | 32 | |
| 8 | Gimpo Citizen | 22 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 27 | 27 | 0 | 26 | |
| 9 | Changwon City | 22 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 33 | 25 | +8 | 34 | |
| 10 | Cheongju FC | 22 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 34 | |
| 11 | Cheonan City | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 27 | 25 | +2 | 33 | |
| 12 | Pyeongtaek Citizen | 22 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 24 | 40 | −16 | 23 | |
| 13 | Yangju Citizen | 22 | 6 | 2 | 14 | 17 | 45 | −28 | 20 | |
| 14 | Gyeongju Citizen (O) | 22 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 16 | 36 | −20 | 15 | Qualification for relegation play-off |
| 15 | Chuncheon Citizen (R) | 22 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 21 | 43 | −22 | 14 | Relegation to K4 League |
| 16 | Jeonju Citizen (R) | 22 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 39 | −20 | 13 | Relegation to K4 League |

## Results
### Matches 1–15

| Home \ Away | BUS | CHA | CHC | CHE | CHU | DAE | GAN | GIH | GIM | GYC | GYE | HWA | JEO | MOK | PYE | YAN |
| Busan Transportation Corporation | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | — | — | 3–1 | — | 1–2 | 1–1 | — | 2–2 | 0–1 | — | — | — | — |
| Changwon City | — | — | 3–3 | — | 0–0 | — | 0–1 | — | 0–0 | — | — | 2–1 | — | 0–3 | — | 3–1 |
| Cheonan City | — | — | — | 1–0 | — | 0–2 | 1–2 | — | 2–2 | 2–0 | — | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | — | |
| Cheongju FC | 0–3 | 2–0 | — | — | — | — | — | 2–1 | — | — | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | — | 0–0 | — |
| Chuncheon FC | 0–4 | — | 1–2 | 2–1 | — | 1–2 | — | — | 2–2 | — | — | — | — | — | 2–3 | — |
| Daejeon Korail | — | — | 4–0 | 0–0 | — | — | — | — | | 3–1 | 0–0 | — | — | 2–2 | 2–0 | 4–0 |
| Gangneung City | 1–4 | — | — | — | 5–0 | 1–1 | — | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Gimhae FC | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | — | 4–2 | 1–0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2–1 | 2–1 | 5–0 | 3–0 |
| Gimpo Citizen | — | — | — | 1–1 | 4–2 | 1–0 | — | 2–3 | — | 1–1 | 2–0 | — | 2–0 | — | — | — |
| Gyeongju Citizen | 0–1 | 2–2 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | — | — | 0–4 | — | — | — | — | 1–1 | 0–2 | — | — |
| Gyeongju KHNP | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | — | — | — | — | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | — | 4–0 | 2–1 | — | 4–2 | 7–0 |
| Hwaseong FC | — | — | — | — | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | — | — | — | 2–3 | — | 1–0 |
| Jeonju Citizen | 0–2 | 1–3 | — | — | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–3 | — | | — | — | 2–4 | — | 2–1 | 0–0 | — |
| Mokpo City | 2–2 | — | — | 0–1 | 5–1 | — | 2–2 | — | 0–1 | — | 1–2 | — | — | — | — | 3–0 |
| Pyeongtaek Citizen | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | — | — | — | 0–2 | — | 0–4 | 1–0 | — | 1–2 | — | 2–4 | — | — |
| Yangju Citizen | 0–2 | — | 4–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | — | | 3–2 | — | — | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | — |

### Matches 16–22

After 15 matches, the league splits into two sections of eight teams each, with teams playing every other team in their section once (either at home or away). The exact matches are determined upon the league table at the time of the split.

#### Final A

| Home \ Away | BUS | DAE | GAN | GIH | GIM | GYE | HWA | MOK |
| Busan Transportation Corporation | — | 0–1 | 1–0 | — | — | — | — | 3–1 |
| Daejeon Korail | — | — | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | — |
| Gangneung City | — | 1–0 | — | — | 2–0 | — | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Gimhae FC | 0–2 | — | 1–0 | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | — |
| Gimpo Citizen | 0–1 | — | — | — | — | 1–4 | — | 1–2 |
| Gyeongju KHNP | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | — | — | — | — | 0–2 |
| Hwaseong FC | 0–1 | — | — | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–3 | — | — |
| Mokpo City | — | 2–1 | — | 0–1 | — | — | 1–2 | — |

#### Final B

| Home \ Away | CHA | CHC | CHE | CHU | GYC | JEO | PYE | YAN |
| Changwon City | — | — | 2–2 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | — | — |
| Cheonan City | 0–3 | — | — | 0–0 | — | — | 3–0 | 0–1 |
| Cheongju FC | — | 1–3 | — | 3–1 | 1–1 | — | — | 2–1 |
| Chuncheon FC | — | — | — | — | 1–2 | 2–2 | — | 2–0 |
| Gyeongju Citizen | — | 0–1 | — | — | — | — | 1–3 | 0–1 |
| Jeonju Citizen | — | 0–1 | 2–3 | — | 1–3 | — | — | — |
| Pyeongtaek Citizen | 1–3 | — | 3–0 | 2–2 | — | 1–1 | — | — |
| Yangju Citizen | 0–5 | — | — | — | — | 2–1 | 0–1 | — |

## Championship play-offs

When the first round and semi-final matches were finished as draws, their winners were decided on the regular season rankings without extra time and the penalty shoot-out.

### Bracket

| First round | First round | First round | Semi-final | Semi-final | Semi-final | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| | | | 2 | Gyeongju KHNP | 1 | | | | | |
| | | | 3 | Gangneung City | 0 | | | | | |
| 3 | Gangneung City | 0 | 3 | Gangneung City | 0 | | | | | |
| 4 | Busan Transportation Corporation | 0 | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Busan Transportation Corporation | 0 | | | | 1 | Gimhae FC | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| | | | | | | 2 | Gyeongju KHNP | 0 | 1 | 1 |

### Final

Gimhae FC won 2–1 on aggregate.

## Relegation play-off

The relegation play-off (K4 League promotion play-offs final) was contested between the 14th-placed team of K3 League and the winners of K4 League play-off (semi-final). When the match was finished as a draw, both clubs remained in their respective leagues.