SEOUL, The new season of the top South Korean football league will kick off on March 1 with a matchup between the two best clubs from last year.
The Korea Professional Football League (K League) announced the fixtures for the 2024 campaign in the first-tier K League 1 on Monday.
To start the new season, Ulsan HD FC, the two-time defending champions, will host the 2023 season runners-up Pohang Steelers at 2 p.m. on March 1 at Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
Ulsan won each of the past two titles under head coach Hong Myung-bo. Pohang, in addition to finishing as the runners-up in the league, captured the FA Cup title last year. The two teams have long had a heated, regional rivalry, and their matches are called the “East Coast Derby.”
This will be the Pohang coaching debut for Park Tae-ha, a former Steelers star named as successor to Kim Gi-dong, who is now head coach for FC Seoul.
Also on March 1, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors will host Dajeon Hana Citizen FC starting at
4:30 p.m. at Jeonju World Cup Stadium in Jeonju, 190 kilometers south of Seoul.
Jeonbuk finished a disappointing fourth in 2023, their lowest ranking since 2008, and they’ve been active this winter, signing K League veterans Kim Tae-hwan, Lee Yeong-jae and Tiago Orobo to bolster their squad.
There will be three more matches on March 2: Gwangju FC versus FC Seoul (2 p.m.), Incheon United against Suwon FC (4:30 p.m.) and Gangwon FC against Jeju United (4:30 p.m.).
Kim Gi-dong, after winning the Coach of the Year Award in 2020 and leading Pohang to the FA Cup in 2023, will try to work the same magic with FC Seoul starting on this day. Suwon FC, after barely avoiding relegation last year, will also have a new bench boss in Kim Eun-jung, who led South Korea to the semifinals at the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Source: Yonhap News Agency