Players of Yongin’s first official professional soccer team, Yongin FC, are introduced during the team’s launch event at Poeun Art Hall in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, on Jan. 4. (Yongin Special City)
Players of Yongin’s first official professional soccer team, Yongin FC, are introduced during the team’s launch event at Poeun Art Hall in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, on Jan. 4. (Yongin Special City)

Yongin Special City has launched its first professional soccer team, a milestone in its efforts to enhance its brand as a city of 1.1 million residents.

Yongin FC was officially established on Jan. 4 and will play its inaugural match on March 4 against Cheonan City FC of South Chungcheong Province at Yongin Mireu Stadium.

The launch comes about nine months after Yongin Mayor Lee Sang-il announced plans to establish the city’s first professional soccer club.

“Under regulations of the K League, Korea’s professional soccer league, all newly admitted clubs are required to begin in K League 2, the second tier of Korea’s professional soccer league. Accordingly, the team established by our city will initially compete in K League 2,” Lee said in 2025.

The city plans to cover about 70 percent of the club’s annual operating budget through municipal funding, with total yearly spending estimated at around 10 billion won ($6.9 million).

The team's creation reflects long-standing public demand, as professional soccer remains one of the most popular sports in Korea, the city said.

Despite having the second-largest population among the country’s 226 second-tier administrative divisons, and surpassing even metropolitan city Ulsan, Yongin has never had a professional soccer team before.

“A year after my inauguration, I ordered a feasibility study on launching a citizens’ professional soccer team, and the study showed that about 70 percent of residents supported the idea,” Lee said. “That indicates sufficient public consensus.”

City officials expect the team’s launch to help reshape Yongin’s image, which has long been perceived primarily as a suburban city near Seoul, despite its rapid economic growth driven by the semiconductor industry.

The city also noted that 2026, when the North and Central America World Cup will be held, presents an opportunity to attract broader attention to soccer.

“Yongin FC will serve as another symbol of the Yongin Renaissance initiative, further strengthening the pride of our 1.1 million citizens,” Lee said.

“It will also help raise awareness both domestically and internationally of Yongin as the center of Korea’s semiconductor industry and one of the country’s most dynamic cities.”


forestjs@heraldcorp.com