Inside Korea's fiercest football derbies: Local rivalries fuel K League's passion

Suwon Samsung Bluewings' Paulinho Henrique falls while vying for the ball against Anyang FC’s Choi Kyu-hyun during a match between the two clubs at Yongin Mireu Stadium in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Oct. 6, 2024. Korea Times photo by Park Si-mon

By Lee Hae-rin

• Published Jul 16, 2026 12:00 PM KST
• Updated Jul 16, 2026 12:33 PM KST

Korean fans turn city pride and club loyalty into 90‑minute neighborhood dramas

Everywhere this summer, the World Cup is turning football into a global obsession — and Korea is no exception. But inside the country, interest in the sport doesn't begin or end with the national team; it lives week in, week out in the K League, where, much like in Europe's traditional football heartlands, club rivalries shape how fans see the game and themselves.

Rival cities trade songs, banners and barbs, and even those who can’t explain the offside rule quickly understand what is at stake: pride, belonging and the right to say, “our side won.” For local fans who love their club, football is not just a game but a ritual where the city’s identity is tested and defended for ninety breathless minutes.

With that in mind, The Korea Times mapped out four key K League derbies that, based on interviews with 12 devoted, lifelong fans who would do anything to see their club win, offer a vivid window into Korean football’s culture and dynamics.

East coast derby: Ulsan vs. Pohang

In the K League 1 with 12 teams, the east coast derby is a quintessential regional rivalry that puts two industrial cities, Ulsan and Pohang in Gyeongsang area, against each other along the southeastern shoreline. Both clubs are storied: multiple league titles, Asian trophies and generations of players who grew up under smokestacks and stadium floodlights.

Unlike some newer branded derbies, east coast derby dynamics grew organically. The fixture became the place where workers from shipyards and steel mills brought their pride to the terraces and rivalries between generations of players. Over time, a simple local match hardened into a derby, where a draw feels like defeat and a win can color an entire season.

“You care less about where either club sits and more about whether your team shows the spirit and fight,” said Son In-sang, an Ulsan fan. “A win stays with you for a long time. A loss? You never forget.”

In recent years, Ulsan’s rise to serial title contender status has layered new expectations onto the posture.

Another Ulsan supporter surnamed Park, who has followed the club since the mid-1990s and now travels home and away, said the noise and choreography change on derby day. “The drums, the megaphones, the chants — it’s all multiplied,” he said. “There’s an invisible battle in the stands as much as on the pitch. East coast derby is where Ulsan’s identity as a tough, resilient club really gets tested.”

For Pohang supporters, the derby is also about a very specific kind of strength. “We’re not always the team everyone expects to win the title, but we’re almost always in the fight near the top,” said Pohang fan Kim Wan‑seok, who was born in the city and still lives there. “Even without being flashy, we’re consistently strong. That’s Pohang Steelers’ power.”

With football effectively the only top‑level professional sport in town, the club carries outsized symbolic weight. “Pohang’s only real representative sports team is the football club, so there’s a special pride among citizens,” he said, adding that east coast derby nights sharpen both the team and the stands. “This match makes Pohang’s competitiveness and pride stronger,” Kim said. “It’s a game with our region’s self‑respect on the line. That’s why it’s always more tense, and why you want to win it that much more.”

Countless legendary matches have helped fix that identity but both sets of fans stress that passion shouldn’t spill into hostility. “The tension is part of the charm, but in the end Ulsan and Pohang fans all love K League. East coast derby should stay as one of K League’s great, healthy rivalries,” Park said.

Hyundai derby: Ulsan vs. Jeonbuk

If the east coast derby is regional, the Hyundai derby is corporate. Ulsan HD FC, backed by Hyundai Heavy Industries, meets Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC. On paper they are “sibling” clubs of the same corporate family, but over the past decade a series of transfers, controversies and title races have transformed their meetings into one of the league’s most heated rivalries.

At first, the derby’s dynamics were mild and both teams enjoyed the spectacle without strong animosity. However, over time, key moments, such as beloved players moving from one team to another and celebrating against their old clubs, shifted the emotional tone and turned corporate kinship into a kind of strained family feud.

Moreover, Jeonbuk’s dominance through much of the 2010s cast Ulsan as a perennial runner-up, and painful losses in head-to-head games cemented that frame. Ulsan were often cast as the “almost” champions, coming close only to see Jeonbuk pull away, many times via decisive derby results.

The latest Hyundai derby in Ulsan last weekend drew a crowd of over 20,000 — larger and louder than a typical league game — with goals celebrated under fireworks and heated atmosphere.

For supporters of the two team, the intensity makes the derby feel heavier than the standings. "Hyundai derby isn't just about three points," Son said. "It's a special match that means much more to fans. Hyundai derby strengthen Ulsan HD and our fan culture ... and makes our sense of belonging and pride as Ulsan fans even stronger."

“In Hyundai derby week, your heart starts pounding from Monday,” Park said. “It’s the one league game you absolutely cannot lose. Winning gives you a feeling that lasts the whole season. Losing, especially badly, can hang over everything.”

"To be honest, Jeonbuk really did play well that day and deserved the win," Park added about the latest match. "When it was over, we gave big applause to both sets of players for thier efforts."

Super match: Suwon vs. Seoul

The rivalry between Suwon Samsung and FC Seoul, branded the Super Match, is one of K League’s most recognizable fixtures.

It evolved from earlier contests, including the derby between neighboring Anyang and Suwon of Gyeonggi Province, with sponsor companies LG and Samsung already rivals. The rivalry amplified when the former relocated to Seoul and the media started calling it a super match.

The league cemented the fixture on May 5 — Children’s Day in Korea — making a symbolic “family day” for domestic football as well as pride contest for hardcore supporters for several years. Around 2008 and 2009, the rivalry reached a peak with both teams competing to become league champion.

“If you ask some fans, ‘Win the league or win the Super Match?’ they would choose the derby,” longtime Suwon fan Kim Kwang-hun said. “Wherever it was played, you could easily expect some 40,000 people … This was before streaming and widespread cable sports, so it was almost guaranteed on free-to-air television."

For FC Seoul supporters, Suwon is "the real rivalry in the K League."

"The two teams’ rivalry has been one of the most driving factors behind Korean football popularity. Unlike many violent football rivalries often found in Europe or Latin America, FC Seoul-Suwon Samsung Rivalry has always been healthy," Seoul fan surnamed Jhoo explained.

Kim still vividly recalls one snowy derby that doubled as a decisive step toward a title in December 2008, which is captured in Suwon supporters’ one of most popular chants.

“Around 10 minutes before the end, we were leading, and snow began to fall. When the whistle blew and our victory song played, no one wanted to leave. The neighborhood turned completely blue with Suwon jerseys and people were hugging strangers, singing the way you might see in the World Cup.”

"Even when we were top of the league, there were times we'd lose to Suwon and fans would shout for the coach to go," Seoul fan Kyung Seung-hyun recalled. "That's how deep this goes ... If you beat Suwon 5-1 away or send them down in their own stadium, those are the days you never forget."

Today, with Suwon relegated, the derby is in quieter phase. However, both Suwon and many Seoul fans wait for Super Match’s comeback to see more of those legendary victories.

"I really want Suwon to come back to the league as soon as possible. It will be really fun," Jhoo said.

Relocation derby: Anyang vs. Seoul

The relocation derby between FC Anyang and FC Seoul is anchored less in branding than in memory.

It traces back to the days when the club began in the 1980s based in the Chungcheong region, then moved into Seoul in 1990 under the name LG Cheetahs to play at Dongdaemun Stadium before playing in the satellite city in Gyeonggi Province from 1996 to 2003. Then the team abruptly relocated to Seoul following a decision by the club and football authorities to install a flagship professional team at Seoul World Cup Stadium after the 2002 FIFA World Cup, leaving a generation of Anyang fans deeply scarred and stripped of a club.

When FC Anyang reemerged as a citizen club in 2012, supporters returned with a different type of attachment.

“Anyang is a small satellite city, but the pride in being ‘from Anyang’ is unusually strong,” said Anyang fan Chae Min-seok, “It’s quiet most of the time, but for sports, it’s very serious.”

For Chae and several Anyang fans, the derby with FC Seoul has become the lens through which that pride is expressed. "We're clearly the underdog now, but every Anyang fan carries the pain of that relocation inside them and sees Seoul as a very clear rival. Our passion, which some people even call aggression, basically comes from this derby," he said, adding that they prepare for the match against Seoul "like a war."

From the Seoul side, it feels different. Many Seoul supporters simply don't see Anyang as a "true" rival, Kyung explained, "Yes, the club spent time there, but that's part of our history, not a shared history with them. Even if there were frictions in the process, it's something we went through and came back from, not a shameful past we have to carry."

He acknowledges why Anyang fans might feel aggrieved, but thinks their anger is misdirected. "From Anyang's point of view, I understand it can feel unfair," he said. "But if you look at the whole story, we were originally based in Seoul ... Hearing words like 'betrayal' or being called names just because you support the club from your own hometown feels uncomfortable."

Anyang supporter group A.S.U. RED, formed in the late 1990s, are documented in the film "FC Sukhavati," spending nearly a decade campaigning to bring professional football back to the city after the club moved to Seoul.

"Even hearing FC Seoul's name still feels uncomfortable for Anyang supporters, naturally dragging them back to the pain of that day 21 years ago, and that the deep scar left in their hearts is not easy to erase," the group's current leader, Jin Jae-hwan, said. Drawing on that history, he has tried to shift supporter culture more toward expressing support for their own team rather than expressing frustration.

FC Seoul fan Lee Young-ju believes “all the talk of home grounds and civic history can sound abstract” and “hard to explain to new fans.” For many Anyang fans, this fixture is still full of pain and anger.

Chae believes sharp support and taunts can be healthy, up to a point. “Booing, daring each other, singing loudly can energize both teams and make the game more fun,” he said. “But this derby carries real history. Mindless insults or denying the other side’s story hurt the rivalry itself.”

How to watch K League derby like a local

Fans say the day starts hours before kickoff and doesn’t end when the final whistle blows.

They recommend arriving at least three hours early to wander the stadium concourse, join event booths and autograph sessions, stop by merchandise stores and sample food trucks to experience the festivities of the game day.

Inside the stadium, each end has its own character: The home supporters’ section behind a goal stand, usually the “N section,” is where you stand, jump and shout for 90 minutes under drums and megaphones nonstop, with no other jersey other than the home team allowed. The opposite away end becomes a concentrated pocket of color and chant for those who have traveled across the country just for the match.

For newcomers or mixed groups, fans point to the newly introduced “neutral seats” — a small strip near away sections that has sparked controversy among purists, but offers an unusually good vantage point to watch both sets of supporters trade songs and enjoy the game wearing any jersey. However, no organized, choreographed chants are allowed in this area.

For a more balanced view, regulars suggest the E and W blocks. E-side seats offer a wide tactical angle on the game, while W-side seats sit closer to the benches and warm-up zones, sharing a glimpse of tension from players and coaches at close range.

And when the game is over, locals don’t simply go home. Many head straight to nearby restaurants and bars, still in club colors, singing their team’s anthems through the streets until the derby finally feels truly, and joyfully, finished.