The DPR Korea Premier Football League () is the men's top professional football division of the North Korean football league system. The DPR Korea Premier Football League was established in 2017, replacing previous football tournaments held in a knockout format which served as a highest-level football competition in North Korea.
History Initially, all sports in the country were on an amateur basis with competitions called Technical Innovation ContestsIt is not an official English name, it is a direct translations from the Korean official name '기술혁신경기대회' being held several times a year since the 1960s until 2009. Technical Innovation Games typically started in February each year.
In 1977, sport in the country was reformed, creating professional teams with paid players for each sport. Since then, an annual championship, called the National Championship, also known as the DPR Korea Championships, has been held September through each year.
Several other competitions held together with the National Championship each year include the Man'gyŏndae Prize held since at least 2002 in March through April in honour of Kim Il Sung's birthday, the Paektusan Prize held since at least 2010 in February in honour of Kim Jong Il's birthday, and the Poch'ŏnbo Torch Prize held since 2010 in May through June to mark the anniversary of the Battle of Poch'ŏnbo. The Osandŏk Prize competition, held in December in honour of Kim Jong Suk, was originally the primary tournament of North Korean ice hockey and other winter sports, but football was added in 2015. Hwaebul Cup was first held in 2013.
In 2010, football's National Championship was renamed Top Class Football League or Highest Class Football League,Theses are not official English names, Theses are direct translations from the Korean official name '최상급축구련맹전'관심속에 벌어지는 최상급축구련맹전 1차경기 . KOREA NEWS SERVICE(KNS). Retrieved on 2010-10-29. but was still held together with the National Championships of other sports, and the other football competitions of the year. This competition was last held in October 2017, after which it was replaced by the current DPR Korea Premier Football League held in the home-and-away round-robin style used in most other countries.
As of the 2017–18 season, featuring thirteen teams that play a full season of home-and-away matches. The 2018–2019 season started on 1 December 2018 and was scheduled to end October 2019.
Participation in Asian club competitions Due to the unusual nature of the domestic football competitions, North Korean teams only rarely took part in international club competitions of the Asian Football Confederation. The first time a North Korean club took part in an AFC club competition was the 1985–86 Asian Club Championship, when April 25 SC took part as the previous season's North Korean champions, though they did not advance from the qualifying round. North Korean teams also took part in the 1986, 1987, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91 and 1991 editions of the Asian Club Championships, with some success; in 1988–89, April 25 finished first in their group in the qualifying round, but did not advance from their group in the semi-final round. The best result of a North Korean club was in the 1990–91 Asian Club Championship, when April 25 reached the semi-finals, losing to Liaoning of China; however, April 25 then went on to defeat Pelita Jaya of Indonesia in the third-place match. April 25 represented North Korea in six of the seven seasons in which North Korean teams took part in the Asian Club Championship. The only time a different club took part was in the 1989–90 edition, in which North Korea was represented by Ch'andongja SC; Ch'andongja finished last in their qualifying round group, and did not advance.
After the 1991 Asian Club Championship, in which April 25 advanced as far as the group stage, North Korean teams did not compete in any Asian club competitions for over twenty years, when Rimyŏngsu were invited to take part in the 2014 edition of the AFC President's Cup. Rimyŏngsu performed well, finishing second in their group in the first round. They went undefeated in the second round to top their group and advance to the final, in which they lost 1–2 to HTTU Ashgabat of Turkmenistan - who had finished first in Rimyŏngsu's group in the first round. However, the 2014 edition proved to be the last time the President's Cup was held.
The 2016 North Korean champions and runners up, April 25 and Kigwancha respectively, were invited to take part in the 2017 AFC Cup. Both started in the group stage, in the same group; April 25 advanced to the knockout stage, with a +1 goal differential over Kigwancha. April 25 faced Bengaluru of India, losing 0:3 on aggregate. The 2017 DPRK League champions and runners up are presently taking part in the 2018 AFC Cup; as the champions, April 25 will begin play in Group I of the group stage. The runners-up, Hwaebul SC, had to first play in the play-off round of the qualifying play-offs. There, they faced Erchim of Mongolia, winning 7–0 on aggregate to advance to the group stage, where they will play matches against April 25, Hang Yuen of Taiwan, and Benfica de Macau. Both teams will travel abroad for away matches, and foreign teams will travel to North Korea; April 25 will use the Rungrado 1st of May Stadium as its home field, whilst Hwaebul will use Kim Il Sung Stadium as its home venue. As a result of the new league structure, the champions and runners up of the 2017–18 Premier League season will take part in the 2019 AFC Cup.
Clubs
Club Location Stadium Capacity Affiliation Amrokkang P'yŏngyang Yanggakdo Stadium 30,000 Ministry of Social Security April 25 P'yŏngyang Kim Il Sung Stadium 50,000 Korean People's Army Hwaebul Pochŏn Hwaebul Stadium 5,000 Socialist Patriotic Youth League Jebi P'yŏngyangP'yŏngyang City Stadium 10,000 Korean People's Army Air Force Kigwancha Sinŭiju Sinuiju Stadium 17,500 Korean State Railway Kyŏnggong'ŏpsong P'yŏngyang P'yŏngyang City Stadium 10,000 Ministry of Light Industry P'yŏngyang P'yŏngyang Kim Il Sung Stadium 50,000 Workers' Party of Korea Rimyŏngsu Sariwŏn Sariwŏn Youth Stadium 35,000 Ministry of People's Security Ryŏmyŏng P'yŏngyang Kim Il Sung Stadium 50,000 Korean People's Army Sobaeksu P'yŏngyang Yanggakdo Stadium 30,000 Korean People's Army Sŏnbong Rasŏn Rajin Stadium 20,000 Worker-Peasant Red Guards Wŏlmido Kimch'aek Kimch'aek Municipal Stadium 30,000 Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts Source:
Champions Technical Innovation Contests System was unknown SeasonChampionRunner-up 1960–1983 Unknown 1984 April 25 (1) Amnokgang 1985 April 25 (2) 1986 April 25 (3) 1987 April 25 (4) 1988 April 25 (5) 1989 Ch'andongja (1) 1990 April 25 (6) 1991 P'yŏngyang (1) 1992 April 25 (7) 1993 April 25 (8) 1994 April 25 (9) 1995 April 25 (10) Rimyŏngsu 1996 Kigwanch'a (1) Rimyŏngsu 1997 Kigwanch'a (2) 1998 Kigwanch'a (3) 1999 Kigwanch'a (4) 2000 Kigwanch'a (5) 2001 Amnokgang (1) 2002 April 25 (11) Rimyŏngsu 2003 April 25 (12) 2004 P'yŏngyang (2) 2005 P'yŏngyang (3) 2006 Amnokgang (2) 2007 P'yŏngyang (4) Amnokgang 2008 Amnokgang (3) 2009 P'yŏngyang (5)
Highest Class Football League Round-robin tournament system was introduced SeasonChampionRunner-up 2010 April 25 (13) Sobaeksu 2011 April 25 (14) Kigwancha 2012 April 25 (15) Sŏnbong 2013 April 25 (16) Man'gyŏngbong 2014 Hwaebul (1) April 25 2015 April 25 (17) Hwaebul 2016 Kigwancha (6) April 25 2017 April 25 (18) Hwaebul
DPR Korea Premier Football League SeasonChampionRunner-up 2017–18Results of 2017–2018 DPRK Premier Football League April 25 (19) Ryomyong 2018–19 April 25 (20) RyomyongRyomyong placed second according to results published by KCNA. According to other North Korean sources, Kigwancha finished second. 2019–20Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic 2020–21 Ryomyong (1) April 25 2021–22 April 25 (21) Ryomyong 2022–23 April 25 (22) Ryomyong2023–24 Ryomyong (2) April 252024–25 April 25 (23) Sŏbaeksu
Performance by club
Club Winners Runners-up Winning seasons Runners-up seasons April 25 23 4 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2002, 2003, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2024–25 2014, 2016, 2020–21, 2023–24 Kigwanch'a 6 1 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2016 2011 P'yŏngyang 5 1991, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009 Amnokgang 3 1 2001, 2006, 2008 2007 Ryomyong 2 4 2020–21, 2023–24 2017–18, 2018–19, 2021–22, 2022–23 Hwaebul 1 2 2014 2015, 2017 Ch'andongja 10 1989 Rimyŏngsu 0 3 1995, 1996, 2002 Sobaeksu 0 3 2010, 2022–23, 2024-2025 Man'gyŏngbong0 1 2013
Top goalscorers Season Player TeamGoals2017–18 An Il-bomApril 25192018–19 Rim Chol-minApril 25212021–22 Choe Ju-songAmnokgang2022–23 Pak Kwang-chonRyomyong222023–24 Pak Kwang-chonRyomyong+ 92024–25 Pak Kwang-chonRyomyong
Notes
References
External links
DPRK Premier Football League. . North Korea – List of Champions at RSSSF Football for the Peoples. North Korea North Korean Football Club's Real English Name