The Korean Series () is the final championship series of the KBO League. It has been held since the KBO League's first season in and is the final series of the post-season play-offs. From to 2013, the winner of the Korean Series went on to play in the Asia Series.
The teams finishing in fourth and fifth place in the regular season face each other in the wild card game, which was added to the KBO League postseason in 2015. The winner of the wild card game faces the team that finished in third place during the regular season in the first round of the play-offs, with the winner then facing the team that finished in second place during the regular season in the second round of the play-offs. The winner of that round faces the team that finished in first place for the championship in the Korean Series.
All championships are a best-of-seven playoff series between the league pennant winner and the winner of the second round of the play-offs. The series follow a 2–3–2 format since 2025; the first two games and the last two games, if necessary, are played at the home venue of the league pennant winner, while the third, fourth and fifth games are played at the home of the winner of the second round. If the game ends in a tie, more games would be scheduled until any one of the teams wins four games.
Results Winning team and losing team columns indicate the number of times that team has appeared in a Korean Series as well as each respective teams' Korean Series record to date. Games in the KBO League have a limit to the number of extra innings and/or time that could be played before being officially declared a tied game (except in 2008 when this rule was removed). When post-season games were declared tied, they had to be replayed.
YearWinning teamManagerSeriesLosing teamManagerMost Valuable Player Ref. 1982 OB Bears Kim Yeong-duk 4–1–(1) Samsung Lions Seo Yeong-mu Kim Yu-dong (OB-OF) 1983 Haitai Tigers Kim Eung-ryong 4–0–(1) MBC Chungyong Kim Dong-yub Kim Bong-yeon (Haitai-IF) 1984 Lotte Giants Kang Byeong-cheol 4–3 Samsung Lions Kim Yeong-duk Yu Du-yeol (Lotte-OF) 1985 Samsung Lions Kim Yeong-duk No Korean Series 1986 Haitai Tigers Kim Eung-ryong 4–1 Samsung Lions Kim Yeong-duk Kim Jung-soo (Haitai-P) 1987 Haitai Tigers Kim Eung-ryong 4–0 Samsung Lions Park Yeong-gil Kim Jun-hwan (Haitai-OF) 1988 Haitai Tigers Kim Eung-ryong 4–2 Binggrae Eagles Kim Yeong-duk Mun Hui-su (Haitai-P) 1989 Haitai Tigers Kim Eung-ryong 4–1 Binggrae Eagles Kim Yeong-duk Park Cheol-u (Haitai-IF) 1990 LG Twins Baek In-chun 4–0 Samsung Lions Jeong Dong-jin Kim Yong-soo (LG-P) 1991 Haitai Tigers Kim Eung-ryong 4–0 Binggrae Eagles Kim Yeong-duk Jang Chae-geun (Haitai-C) 1992 Lotte Giants Kang Byeong-cheol 4–1 Binggrae Eagles Kim Yeong-duk Park Dong-hui (Lotte-P) 1993 Haitai Tigers Kim Eung-ryong 4–2–(1) Samsung Lions Woo Yong-deuk Lee Jong-beom (Haitai-IF) 1994 LG Twins Lee Kwang-hwan 4–0 Pacific Dolphins Jeong Dong-jin Kim Yong-soo (LG-P) 1995 OB Bears Kim In-sik 4–3 Lotte Giants Kim Yong-hee Kim Min-ho (OB-IF) 1996 Haitai Tigers Kim Eung-ryong 4–2 Hyundai Unicorns Kim Jae-bak Lee Kang-chul (Haitai-P) 1997 Haitai Tigers Kim Eung-ryong 4–1 LG Twins Cheon Bo-seong Lee Jong-beom (Haitai-IF) 1998 Hyundai Unicorns Kim Jae-bak 4–2 LG Twins Cheon Bo-seong Chung Min-tae (Hyundai-P) 1999 Hanwha Eagles Lee Hui-su 4–1 Lotte Giants Kim Myeong-seong Koo Dae-sung (Hanwha-P) 2000 Hyundai Unicorns Kim Jae-bak 4–3 Doosan Bears Kim In-sik (Hyundai-3B) 2001 Doosan Bears Kim In-sik 4–2 Samsung Lions Kim Eung-ryong (Doosan-1B) 2002 Samsung Lions Kim Eung-ryong 4–2 LG Twins Kim Sung-keun Ma Hae-yeong (Samsung-OF) 2003 Hyundai Unicorns Kim Jae-bak 4–3 SK Wyverns Cho Beom-hyeon Chung Min-tae (Hyundai-P) 2004 Hyundai Unicorns Kim Jae-bak 4–2–(3) Samsung Lions Kim Eung-ryong Cho Yong-joon (Hyundai-P) 2005 Samsung Lions Sun Dong-yol 4–0 Doosan Bears Kim Kyung-moon Oh Seung-hwan (Samsung-P) 2006 Samsung Lions Sun Dong-yol 4–1–(1) Hanwha Eagles Kim In-sik Park Jin-man (Samsung-SS) 2007 SK Wyverns Kim Sung-keun 4–2 Doosan Bears Kim Kyung-moon Kim Jae-hyun (SK-OF) 2008 SK Wyverns Kim Sung-keun 4–1 Doosan Bears Kim Kyung-moon Choi Jeong (SK-3B) 2009 Kia Tigers Cho Beom-hyeon 4–3 SK Wyverns Kim Sung-keun Na Ji-wan (Kia-LF) 2010 SK Wyverns Kim Sung-keun 4–0 Samsung Lions Sun Dong-yol Park Jung-kwon (SK-1B/RF) 2011 Samsung Lions Ryu Joong-il 4–1 SK Wyverns Lee Man-soo Oh Seung-hwan (Samsung-P) 2012 Samsung Lions Ryu Joong-il 4–2 SK Wyverns Lee Man-soo Lee Seung-yeop (Samsung-1B) 2013 Samsung Lions Ryu Joong-il 4–3 Doosan Bears Kim Jin-wook Park Han-yi (Samsung-RF) 2014 Samsung Lions Ryu Joong-il 4–2 Nexen Heroes Yeom Kyung-yup (Samsung-2B) 2015 Doosan Bears Kim Tae-hyoung 4–1 Samsung Lions Ryu Joong-il Jung Soo-bin (Doosan-CF) 2016 Doosan Bears Kim Tae-hyoung 4–0 NC Dinos Kim Kyung-moon Yang Eui-ji (Doosan-C) 2017 Kia Tigers Kim Ki-tai 4–1 Doosan Bears Kim Tae-hyoung Yang Hyeon-jong (Kia-P) 2018 SK Wyverns 4–2 Doosan Bears Kim Tae-hyoung Han Dong-min (SK-RF) 2019 Doosan Bears Kim Tae-hyoung 4–0 Kiwoom Heroes Jang Jung-suk Oh Jae-il (Doosan-1B) 2020 NC Dinos Lee Dong-wook 4–2 Doosan Bears Kim Tae-hyoung Yang Eui-ji (NC-C) 2021 KT Wiz Lee Kang-chul 4–0 Doosan Bears Kim Tae-hyoung Park Kyung-su (KT-2B) 2022 SSG Landers Kim Won-hyong 4–2 Kiwoom Heroes Hong Won-ki Kim Kang-min (SSG-CF) 2023 LG Twins Youm Kyoung-youb 4–1 KT Wiz Lee Kang-chul Oh Ji-hwan (LG-SS) 2024 Kia Tigers Lee Bum-ho 4–1 Samsung Lions Park Jin-man Kim Sun-bin (Kia-2B) 2025 LG Twins Youm Kyoung-youb 4–1 Hanwha Eagles Kim Kyung-moon Kim Hyun-soo (LG-LF)
Records by team In the sortable table below, teams are ordered first by number of wins, then by number of appearances, and finally by year of first appearance. In the "Season(s)" column, bold years indicate winning appearances. Team Wins Losses Apps Win % Season(s) Haitai / Kia Tigers 12 0 12 1.000 1983, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2009, 2017, 2024 Samsung Lions 7+1 11 18 .389 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1993, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2024 OB / Doosan Bears 6 9 15 .400 1982, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 SK Wyverns / SSG Landers 5 4 9 .556 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2018, 2022 MBC Chungyong / LG Twins 4 4 8 .500 1983, 1990, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2023, 2025 Pacific Dolphins / Hyundai Unicorns 4 2 6 .667 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004 Lotte Giants 2 2 4 .500 1984, 1992, 1995, 1999 Binggrae / Hanwha Eagles 1 6 7 .142 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1999, 2006, 2025 NC Dinos 1 1 2 .500 2016, 2020 KT Wiz 1 1 2 .500 2021, 2023 Nexen / Kiwoom Heroes 0 3 3 .000 2014, 2019, 2022
Frequent matchups The following are the ten matchups of teams that have occurred two or more times in the Korean Series. Count Matchup Record Years 5 Doosan Bears vs. Samsung Lions Bears, 32 1982, 2001, 2005, 2013, 2015 4 Kia Tigers vs. Samsung Lions Tigers, 40 1986, 1987, 1993, 2024 3 Kia Tigers vs. Hanwha Eagles Tigers, 30 1988, 1989, 1991 3 SSG Landers vs. Doosan Bears Landers, 30 2007, 2008, 2018 3 Samsung Lions vs. SSG Landers Lions, 21 2010, 2011, 2012 2 Kia Tigers vs. LG Twins Tigers, 20 1983, 1997 2 Samsung Lions vs. LG Twins Tied, 11 1990, 2002 2 Lotte Giants vs. Hanwha Eagles Tied, 11 1992, 1999 2 LG Twins vs. Hyundai Unicorns Tied, 11 1994, 1998 2 Doosan Bears vs. NC Dinos Tied, 11 2016, 2020
See also Korea Baseball Organization#Awards Baseball awards#South Korea
Notes The 1982, 1983, 1993, and 2006 Korean Series each included one tied game. The 2004 Korean Series had three tied games. No Korean Series played, the Samsung Lions won the title outright in the 1985 season due to winning both halves of the then split-season format; the league soon instituted rules to ensure the Korean Series would be played regardless if a team won both halves of the season. The Hyundai Unicorns franchise was disbanded at the end of the 2007 season.
References