The
All Joseon Football Tournament was founded by the
Joseon Sports Council in 1921, during Japanese rule in Korea. Youth, student and adult football clubs from various provinces participated. After 1934, it became a part of the
Korean National Sports Festival, which was the championship for various sports games and matched Koreans against other sports championships operated by Japanese who lived in Korea. The Joseon Sports Council was disbanded in 1937, due to the Japanese government's oppression, and the
Joseon Football Association (currently KFA) succeeded it after 1938, but was cancelled after 1940 for the same reason during
World War II. After the liberation of Korea, the KFA founded the
National Football Championship and the
President's Cup, entered by many semi-professional clubs and amateur clubs from all over South Korea. They opened in spring and late autumn each. The National Football Championship declined after the founding of the
K League, because professional clubs didn't take part in it. There were several attempts to get professional clubs to join the tournament, and it became so successful that in the 1988 and 1989 seasons many top clubs joined the championship, renamed the FA Cup. However, it soon reverted to semi-professional status in 1990 due to disagreements between the KFA and professional clubs. The current cup competition separated from the National Championship in 1996, but since 2001 the two competitions have been merged again. The President's Cup was also abolished in 2010. ==Format==