DPR Korea Football League

Including football, all sports in North Korea were on an amateur basis, with competitions called Technical Innovation Contests^[1] (Chosŏn'gŭl: 기술혁신경기대회; Hanja: 技術革新競技大會) being held several times a year In football, First Technical Innovation Contests was held In 1960.

The league was the subject of the 1978 sport drama called Centre Forward. The movie was directed by Kil-in Kim and Chong-song Pak and starred In-son Cha.

In 2010, football's National Championship was renamed Top Class Football League or Highest Class Football League^[2] (Chosŏn'gŭl: 최상급축구련맹전; Hanja: 最上級蹴球聯盟戰).^[3][4]

October 2017, after which Highest Class Football League was replaced by the DPR Korea Premier Football League (Chosŏn'gŭl: 조선민주주의인민공화국 1부류축구련맹전; Hanja: 朝鮮民主主義人民共和國 一部流蹴球聯盟戰) held in the home-and-away round-robin system used in most other countries.

In 1990 and 1991, South Korean Newspaper reported, DPR Korea Football League had 3 divisions and promotion and relegation system^[5][6]

In October 2016, South Korean Newspaper reported, AFC said "In 2017, North Korea have a plan to create a new football league system which operates 3 divisions."^[7][8]

Note: North Korea is a reclusive and closed country so it is difficult to obtain the information about whole changes or current detailed league system information.

• Round-robin tournament competitions
  • First Division: DPR Korea Premier Football League
  • Second Division: DPR Korea balls League 2 (uncertain)
  • Third Division: DPR Korea Football League 3 (uncertain)

• Elimination tournament competitions
  • Hwaebul Cup
  • DPR Korea Championship (In the past, Round-robin tournament competition)
  • Mangyongdae Prize
  • Paektusan Prize
  • Pochonbo Torch Prize
  • Osandok Prize

• Football for the Peoples. North Korea
• North Korea – List of Champions at RSSSF
• North Korea – Real Soccer Name Teams
• DPRK Premier Football League Archived 2019-12-23 at the Wayback Machine