# 2018 K League 2

The 2018 K League 2 was the sixth season of the K League 2, the second-highest division in the South Korean football league system.
Asan Mugunghwa once again grabbed an opportunity for promotion by winning its second K League 2 title (officially first title after Ansan era), but its owner Korean Police Agency did not recruit new players who could meet clubs' requisite for maintenance before the end of the season. Asan Mugunghwa, which was in the process of being dissolved, was finally disqualified from promoting.
Runners-up Seongnam FC directly qualified for the K League 1 instead of Asan Mugunghwa, and the third, fourth, and fifth-placed team advanced to the promotion playoffs.

## Teams
### Team changes

Relegated from K League Classic
* Gwangju FC
Promoted to K League 1
* Gyeongnam FC

### Stadiums

| Ansan Greeners | FC Anyang | Asan Mugunghwa | Bucheon FC 1995 | Busan IPark |
| Ansan Wa~ Stadium | Anyang Stadium | Yi Sun-sin Stadium | Bucheon Stadium | Busan Gudeok Stadium |
| Capacity: 35,000 | Capacity: 17,143 | Capacity: 19,283 | Capacity: 34,545 | Capacity: 12,349 |
| Daejeon Citizen | Gwangju FC | Seongnam FC | Seoul E-Land | Suwon FC |
| Daejeon World Cup Stadium | Gwangju World Cup Stadium | Tancheon Stadium | Seoul Olympic Stadium | Suwon Sports Complex |
| Capacity: 40,535 | Capacity: 40,245 | Capacity: 16,146 | Capacity: 69,950 | Capacity: 11,808 |

### Personnel and sponsoring

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Team | Managers | Kit manufacturer | Main sponsor |
| Ansan Greeners | Lee Heung-sil | Kelme | Ansan Government |
| FC Anyang | Ko Jeong-woon | Zaicro | Anyang Government |
| Asan Mugunghwa | Park Dong-hyuk | Puma | Asan Government |
| Bucheon FC 1995 | Jeong Gab-seok | Astore | Bucheon Government |
| Busan IPark | Choi Yun-kyum | Adidas | Hyundai Development Company |
| Daejeon Citizen | Ko Jong-soo | Astore | Daejeon Government |
| Gwangju FC | Park Jin-sub | Joma | Gwangju Government |
| Seongnam FC | Nam Ki-il | Umbro | Seongnam Government |
| Seoul E-Land | In Chang-soo | New Balance | E-Land |
| Suwon FC | Cho Duck-je | Hummel | Suwon Government |

### Foreign players

Restricting the number of foreign players strictly to four per team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries. A team could use four foreign players on the field each game.
As of 24 July 2018.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Asian Player |
| Ansan Greeners | Fidel | Seku Conneh | Raúl Tarragona | |
| FC Anyang | Wesley Alex | Marcos Antônio | | |
| Bucheon FC 1995 | Cristovam | Nilson Júnior | Willian Popp | Nan Song |
| Busan IPark | Rômulo | Arsenio Valpoort | Sherjill MacDonald | |
| Daejeon Citizen | Aurelian Chițu | Filip Hlohovský | Sanzhar Tursunov | Shohrux Gadoyev |
| Gwangju FC | Gil | Felipe Silva | Róbson Duarte | Minori Sato Wang Chien-ming |
| Seongnam FC | Éder Lima | Olivier Bonnes | | |
| Seoul E-Land | Diego Bielkiewicz | Ignacio Herrera | Ivan Herceg | |
| Suwon FC | Alex Lima | Alex Bruno | Fernando Viana | Adrian Leijer |
* ↑ Wang Chien-ming represented Chinese Taipei at international level, but he was considered Korean in the K League 2.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Asan Mugunghwa (C) | 36 | 21 | 9 | 6 | 54 | 27 | +27 | 72 | |
| 2 | Seongnam FC (P) | 36 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 49 | 36 | +13 | 65 | Promotion to the K League 1 |
| 3 | Busan IPark | 36 | 14 | 14 | 8 | 53 | 35 | +18 | 56 | Qualification for the promotion playoffs semi-final |
| 4 | Daejeon Citizen | 36 | 15 | 8 | 13 | 47 | 44 | +3 | 53 | Qualification for the promotion playoffs first round |
| 5 | Gwangju FC | 36 | 11 | 15 | 10 | 51 | 41 | +10 | 48 | Qualification for the promotion playoffs first round |
| 6 | FC Anyang | 36 | 12 | 8 | 16 | 44 | 50 | −6 | 44 | |
| 7 | Suwon FC | 36 | 13 | 3 | 20 | 29 | 46 | −17 | 42 | |
| 8 | Bucheon FC 1995 | 36 | 11 | 6 | 19 | 37 | 50 | −13 | 39 | |
| 9 | Ansan Greeners | 36 | 10 | 9 | 17 | 32 | 45 | −13 | 39 | |
| 10 | Seoul E-Land | 36 | 10 | 7 | 19 | 30 | 52 | −22 | 37 | |
* ↑ Asan Mugunghwa was disqualified from promoting to the K League 1 due to lack of players who could meet clubs' requisite for maintenance. Therefore, runner-up Seongnam FC was directly promoted, and 5th-placed team Gwangju FC qualified for the promotion playoffs.

## Positions by matchday

Leaders  Qualification for the promotion playoffs

### Round 1–18

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| Asan Mugunghwa | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Seongnam FC | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Busan IPark | 4 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Bucheon FC 1995 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Gwangju FC | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 |
| Ansan Greeners | 9 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Suwon FC | 2 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 |
| Daejeon Citizen | 8 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| FC Anyang | 6 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 |
| Seoul E-Land | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 |

### Round 19–36

| Team ╲ Round | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 |
| Asan Mugunghwa | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Seongnam FC | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Busan IPark | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Daejeon Citizen | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Gwangju FC | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| FC Anyang | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Suwon FC | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Bucheon FC 1995 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Ansan Greeners | 6 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Seoul E-Land | 9 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |

## Results
### Matches 1–18

| Home \ Away | ANS | ANY | ASM | BUC | BIP | DJC | GWJ | SEN | SEL | SUW |
| Ansan Greeners | — | 2–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 |
| FC Anyang | 1–0 | — | 0–3 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 0–1 |
| Asan Mugunghwa | 1–0 | 1–1 | — | 4–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 4–2 | 3–0 | 2–0 |
| Bucheon FC 1995 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 4–1 |
| Busan IPark | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | — | 3–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Daejeon Citizen | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | — | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| Gwangju FC | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 1–3 | 3–0 | 5–0 |
| Seongnam FC | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 4–2 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Seoul E-Land | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | — | 0–1 |
| Suwon FC | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 1–0 | — |

### Matches 19–36

| Home \ Away | ANS | ANY | ASM | BUC | BIP | DJC | GWJ | SEN | SEL | SUW |
| Ansan Greeners | — | 0–2 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| FC Anyang | 3–2 | — | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 |
| Asan Mugunghwa | 2–0 | 2–1 | — | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 |
| Bucheon FC 1995 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 |
| Busan IPark | 0–0 | 4–3 | 1–2 | 1–1 | — | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 |
| Daejeon Citizen | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | — | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Gwangju FC | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 1–2 | — | 3–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 |
| Seongnam FC | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | — | 1–2 | 0–0 |
| Seoul E-Land | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 0–5 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 1–2 | — | 1–0 |
| Suwon FC | 1–2 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | — |

## Promotion playoffs
### Bracket

| First round | First round | First round | Semi-final | Semi-final | Semi-final | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| | | | 3 | Busan IPark | 3 | | | | | |
| | | | 4 | Daejeon Citizen | 0 | | | | | |
| 4 | Daejeon Citizen | 1 | 4 | Daejeon Citizen | 0 | | | | | |
| 5 | Gwangju FC | 0 | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Gwangju FC | 0 | | | | Busan IPark | Busan IPark | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| | | | | | | FC Seoul | FC Seoul | 3 | 1 | 4 |

### Final

The promotion-relegation playoffs were held between the winners of the 2018 K League 2 playoffs and the 11th-placed club of the 2018 K League 1. The winners on aggregate score after both matches earned entry into the 2019 K League 1.
FC Seoul won 4–2 on aggregate and therefore both clubs remain in their respective leagues.

## Player statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Na Sang-ho | Gwangju FC | 16 |
| 2 | Wesley Alex | FC Anyang | 15 |
| 3 | Aurelian Chițu | Daejeon Citizen | 11 |
| 4 | Jung Sung-min | Seongnam FC | 10 |
| 4 | Willian Popp | Bucheon FC 1995 | 10 |
| 6 | Ko Kyung-min | Busan IPark | 9 |
| 6 | Rômulo | Busan IPark | 9 |
| 8 | Shohrux Gadoyev | Daejeon Citizen | 8 |
| 9 | 7 players | 7 players | 7 |

### Top assist providers

| Rank | Player | Club | Assists |
| 1 | Rômulo | Busan IPark | 9 |
| 2 | Park Soo-il | Daejeon Citizen | 8 |
| 2 | Chang Hyuk-jin | Ansan Greeners | 8 |
| 4 | Moon Sang-yun | Seongnam FC | 7 |
| 5 | Jo Seong-joon | Asan Mugunghwa | 6 |
| 6 | Lee Euddeum | Asan Mugunghwa | 6 |
| 6 | Cho Chan-ho | Seoul E-Land | 6 |
| 6 | Lee Jae-kwon | Busan IPark | 6 |
| 6 | Lee Myung-joo | Asan Mugunghwa | 6 |
| 6 | Moon Ki-han | Bucheon FC 1995 | 6 |
| 6 | Kim Dong-hyun | Gwangju FC | 6 |

## Attendance

Attendants who entered with free ticket were not counted.
| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | Busan IPark | 44,572 | 6,532 | 1,008 | 2,476 | +3.0%$^†$ |
| 2 | Seongnam FC | 43,208 | 4,167 | 1,128 | 2,400 | −14.3%$^†$ |
| 3 | Suwon FC | 33,792 | 3,060 | 815 | 1,877 | −11.0%$^†$ |
| 4 | Ansan Greeners | 32,775 | 5,532 | 645 | 1,820 | −32.6%$^†$ |
| 5 | Asan Mugunghwa | 31,594 | 4,039 | 844 | 1,755 | −10.3%$^†$ |
| 6 | Daejeon Citizen | 29,617 | 4,142 | 418 | 1,645 | −26.5%$^†$ |
| 7 | Gwangju FC | 27,393 | 5,439 | 464 | 1,522 | −51.8%$^†$ |
| 8 | FC Anyang | 27,090 | 6,503 | 405 | 1,505 | −54.9%$^†$ |
| 9 | Bucheon FC 1995 | 18,464 | 1,655 | 618 | 1,026 | −50.2%$^†$ |
| 10 | Seoul E-Land | 12,410 | 1,349 | 312 | 689 | −57.2%$^†$ |
| | League total | 300,895 | 6,532 | 312 | 1,672 | −28.2%$^†$ |
Source: K League Notes: $^†$ Team played previous season in K League Classic.