The 2012 season in the country’s top soccer league kicks off on Saturday with 16 teams due to play a total of 352 games.

The K-League had a troubled season last year, marred by a massive match-fixing scam with dozens of players indicted in the unprecedented scandal.

For this season, the league governing body has made some major changes to root out corruption in its league.

One of the major changes is a new promotion-relegation system being introduced starting this year.

According to the new “split” system, the 16-team league will be divided into two groups of eight teams based on their record after 30 games into the season.

The upper-half teams will then play 14 more games against each other within their group with the team that finishes atop of the group winning the league title. 

The top three teams in the group will also progress to next year’s Asian Champions League, while the bottom two teams in the lower half will be relegated to the second division in 2013 season.

Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Chung Mong-kyu, president of the K-League, said the league will try to provide “fun and entertaining” games this year.

“We believe the new split system will keep make games interesting until the end of the season,” he said.

Pohang Steelers manager Hwang Sun-hong said the 2012 schedule will be a “marathon race.”

“It’s a long-race, and I think it’d be more difficult for the teams which play in the Asian Champions League,” he said.

Asked about the prospects for the 2012 season, the 16 team managers picked Monday Suwon and Seongnam along with the 2011 Jeonbuk as the serious title contenders.

Meanwhile, Incheon United manager Huh Jung-moo said that he has high hopes for the new season with the club’s new home stadium having been completed recently.

Incheon finished 11th in 2010 and 13th in 2011. But Huh said he believes his team can make it into the top-eight group this season.

The 2013 K-League season kicks off on Saturday at 3 p.m. with the defending champions Jeonbuk playing against Seongnam while the 2011 runner-up Ulsan meets Pohang.

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)