WK League News

Each year, representatives of WK League teams and hopeful young football players gather in Seoul for the annual WK League draft. This is a chance for teams to sign promising new talent from a pool of university and high school students, players returning from overseas and amateurs who think they’ve got what it takes. The vast majority of draftees are graduating university students who have been playing for their college team.

As a military team which requires its players to undertake basic training and join the army for at least three years, Mungyeong Sangmu does not participate in the draft. Players are not selected in the draft may voluntarily apply to be selected by Mungyeong.

The 2025 WK League draft took place on 12th December 2024 at the Olympic Parktel in Seoul. Proceedings always begin with drawing lots. In the order of the previous year’s league table, starting with the champions, teams draw a number. Then, using those numbers to dictate the order, they draw another number, and this second number dictates their position in the draft. The order in which they pick alternates with each pass of the draft. Got it? It’s not as complicated as it sounds, but you can check it out for yourself on YouTube if you’re not convinced.

There’s significance to the order in which players are drafted. Players selected in the first four rounds of the draft sign a three year contract with their respective teams, while players drafted later are only signed for one year. Players’ salary caps also vary depending on their position in the draft.

So, let’s take a look at what happened in the 2025 WK League draft, team by team (in 2025 draft order).

Incheon Hyundai Steel Red Angels

Eleven-time championship winners Incheon Hyundai Steel Red Angels had the luck of the draw and the chance to make the first pick of this year’s draft. They selected Kim Myung-jin, an attacking midfielder from Korea University who has gained attention in domestic tournaments and represented South Korea at the U20 Women’s World Cup in 2022. Although she is yet to receive a senior call-up, her skill on the ball and smart playing style earned her the MVP award at the 32nd Queen’s Cup tournament and an outstanding player award at the 2024 Develon Korea Women’s Football Awards (henceforth referred to as “2024 Women’s Football Awards”)

Incheon made their second (and final) selection of the day in the second round of the draft, signing another midfielder, Bae Yebin, of Uiduk University. Another alum of the 2022 U20 World Cup squad, two-footed Bae was the only university student to be called up to the senior team for the 2023 Women’s World Cup. She also played for her country at the 2024 U20 World Cup.

Changnyeong WFC

Changnyeong used their favourable position in the first round of the draft to secure goalkeeper Do Yoon-ji of Dankook University. With both goalkeepers from Changnyeong’s 2024 squad having retired this winter, and Seoul also in the market for a new keeper, Changnyeong’s draft position gave them the advantage in choosing from the seven prospects available. Having proved her talent in domestic competitions, Do was included in South Korea’s squad at the 2022 U20 World Cup, although she was benched in favour of Kim Kyung-hee (currently at Suwon FC).

Changnyeong didn’t make any further three-year signings, waiting for the fifth pass of the draft before adding to their desperately thin squad, which was already on the small side before they lost over half their players during the off-season. Joining Changnyeong on one-year contracts are defender Kim Ji-hyun (Daeduk University), midfielder Hwang Hye-min, and forwards Park Ga-hyun (Ulsan College) and Hong Seong-yeon (Uiduk Univeristy).

Seoul City Amazones

Signing Uiduk University’s Woo Seo-bin as their first pick, Seoul also prioritised finding a goalkeeper to replace the two who moved on from the club this winter. Another player who spent the 2022 U20 World Cup on the bench, youngster Woo still made the U20 cut-off for the 2024 edition of the same competition. Despite results going against South Korea in the first knock-out stage, Woo’s performance in the tournament was praised. She was named as the most outstanding goalkeeper in the university category at the 2024 Women’s Football Awards.

Seoul added attacking midfielder Seo Hyun-min of Korea University to their squad in the second pass of the draft. Having represented Korea at the U20 World Cup, Seo is known as an agile player who can can cover wide areas of the pitch and make quick attacking runs. Additionally, Seoul signed another goalkeeper, Park Hyun-jin (Daeduk University), and midfielder Kim Eun-mi (Dongwon University) on one-year contracts.

Gyeongju KHNP

After some deliberation and discussion between coaching staff, Gyeongju KHNP named Kang Eun-young of Daeduk University as their first selection. Attacking midfielder Kang has represented South Korea at U18 and U20 level, making appearances at both the World Cup and Asian Cup in those age groups.

Gyeongju’s second three-year signing, after some further deliberation, was another South Korea representative at U20 level, defender Um Min-gyeong of Uiduk University. Um was a member of the Uiduk team that was victorious at last year’s Autumn National Football Tournament and honoured as the best university team at last year’s Korea Women’s Football Awards. Gyeongju additionally signed goalkeeper Kang Ji-yeon of Korea University, and midfielder Oh Seo-yeon.

Hwacheon KSPO

Similarly to Gyeongju, Hwacheon KSPO’s manager and coaches appeared to take some time to size up their options before settling on Ulsan College striker Cheon Se-hwa as their first round pick. Cheon’s energy and goal-scoring ability have drawn attention domestically and she was, unsurprisingly, another member of the 2024 U20 World Cup squad.

She will be joined at Hwacheon for the next three years by her Ulsan teammate Choi Min-a, a defender named by Hwacheon in the second round of the draft, and goalkeeper Hong Yoo-jin. KSPO were the only team to sign three three-year contracts this year and appeared to be considering another before passing in the fourth round. They made one additional one-year signing in the fifth round of the draft: defender Jo Ye-jin of Daeduk University.

Suwon FC Women

Korea University defender Lee Su-in was the first player named by Suwon FC Women’s manager. Lee’s football career started at the academy of men’s professional team Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, which didn’t have a girls’ team at the time. She stood out from a young age even while playing among older boys due to her strength and accuracy, and was named as ‘Young Player of the Year’ in 2017 by the KFA. At the 2024 Women’s Football Awards, she took home the award for best defender in the university category.

Suwon’s second signing was Kim Ga-yeon, formerly of Gwangyang Girls’ High School, a forward known for her speed and ability to take on defenders and retain possession. The club further strengthened their attacking prospects, signing Ulsan College striker Hwang A-hyeon on a one year contract, and appeared to discuss some further options before eventually deciding to call it a day.

Sejong Sportstoto

Sejong Sportstoto completed the first round of the draft by signing Kim Ji-hyun, a midfielder who was captain of the Daeduk University women’s football team in 2024. Kim became the first alum of the Son Football Academy, operated by Son Heungmin’s father, to be selected for the South Korean national team when she received her U20 call-up early last year.

As the eighth named team in the draft, Sejong began the second round of selections, adding Uiduk University defender Jang Jin-young to their squad. Recognised for leading her team to tournament victory as captain, Jang was named as the most outstanding university-level player nationwide at the 2024 Women’s Football Awards. Sejong Sportstoto did not make any additional selections in the draft.

Summary

	Incheon	Changnyeong	Seoul	Gyeongju	Hwacheon	Suwon	Sejong
Round 1	Kim Myung-jin	Do Yoon-ji	Woo Seo-bin	Kang Eun-young	Choi Se-hwa	Lee Su-in	Kim Ji-hyun (1)
Round 2	Bae Ye-bin	–	Seo Hyun-min	Um Min-gyeong	Choi Min-a	Kim Ga-yeon	Jang Jin-young
Round 3	–	–	–	–	Hong Yoo-jin	–	–
Round 4	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Additional signings	–	Kim Ji-hyun (2)	Park Hyun-jin	Kang Ji-yeon	Jo Ye-jin	Hwang A-hyeon	–
	–	Hwang Hye-min	–	Oh Seo-yeon	–	–	–
	–	Park Ga-hyun	Kim Eun-mi	–	–	–	–
	–	Hong Sung-yeon	–	–	–	–	–

Of 50 players available in the draft, 24 were signed by WK League clubs. Notably absent from the players named were Kim Shin-ji and Jeon Yu-gyeong, both of whom were rumoured to be seeking opportunities overseas. Kim has since signed a deal with AS Roma.

Players not signed in the draft may still be approached by clubs, so the draft is only the beginning of a long winter of contracts and transfers for teams in the WK League. Over the coming weeks we’ll be looking at each team’s squad in more detail, covering both in-going and outgoing transfers, new signings and contract renewals.