| Competition: | Hana 1Q K League 1 |
| Season: | 2022 |
| Dates: | 19 February – 29 October 2022 |
| Winners: | Ulsan Hyundai (3rd title) |
| Continentalcup1: | Champions League |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Ulsan Hyundai Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Pohang Steelers Incheon United |
| Relegated: | Gimcheon Sangmu Seongnam FC |
| Best Player: | Lee Chung-yong |
| League Topscorer: | Cho Gue-sung Joo Min-kyu (17 goals each) |
| Matches: | 228 |
| Prevseason: | 2021 |
| Nextseason: | 2023 |
The 2022 K League 1, also known as the Hana 1Q K League 1 for sponsorship reasons, was the 40th season of the top division of professional football in South Korea, and the tenth season of the K League 1.
After progressing 33 regular rounds as ever, the league was divided into two groups, the top six and the bottom six, and each team played five matches against other teams in its group.
Relegated to K League 2
Promoted from K League 2
The following twelve clubs will compete in the K League 1 during the 2022 season.[1]
| Team | City/Province | Abbreviation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daegu FC | Daegu | Daegu | |
| Gangwon FC | Gangwon | Gangwon | |
| Gimcheon Sangmu | Gimcheon | Gimcheon | |
| Incheon United | Incheon | Incheon | |
| Jeju United | Jeju | Jeju | |
| Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | Jeonbuk | Jeonbuk | |
| Pohang Steelers | Pohang | Pohang | |
| Seongnam FC | Seongnam | Seongnam | |
| FC Seoul | Seoul | Seoul | |
| Suwon FC | Suwon | Suwon FC | |
| Suwon Samsung Bluewings | Suwon | Suwon | |
| Ulsan Hyundai | Ulsan | Ulsan |
| Jeju United | Daegu FC | Incheon United | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jeju World Cup Stadium | DGB Daegu Bank Park | Incheon Football Stadium | |
| Capacity: 29,791 | Capacity: 12,415 | Capacity: 20,891 | |
| Pohang Steelers | Suwon FC | Seongnam FC | |
| Pohang Steel Yard | Suwon Stadium | Tancheon Stadium | |
| Capacity: 17,443 | Capacity: 11,808 | Capacity: 16,146 | |
| FC Seoul | Ulsan Hyundai | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | |
| Seoul World Cup Stadium | Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium | Suwon World Cup Stadium | |
| Capacity: 66,704 | Capacity: 44,102 | Capacity: 44,031 | |
| Gimcheon Sangmu | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | ||
| Gimcheon Stadium | Jeonju World Cup Stadium | ||
| Capacity: 25,000 | Capacity: 42,477 | ||
| Gangwon FC | |||
| Chuncheon Songam Leports Town | Gangneung Stadium | ||
| Capacity: 20,000 | Capacity: 22,333 | ||
| Team | Manager | Main sponsor | Kit manufacturer | Other sponsor(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daegu FC |  Choi Won-kwon (caretaker) | Daegu Government | Goal Studio | DGB Daegu Bank AJIN Industrial Co., Ltd. | |
| Gangwon FC | Choi Yong-soo | Gangwon Provincial Government | Fila | Kangwon Land | |
| Gimcheon Sangmu | Kim Tae-wan | Republic of Korea Armed Forces Gimcheon Government | Kelme | ||
| Incheon United | Jo Sung-hwan | Incheon Government | Macron | ||
| Jeju United | Nam Ki-il | SK Energy | Fila | ||
| Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | Kim Sang-sik | Hyundai Motor Company | Adidas | ||
| Pohang Steelers | Kim Gi-dong | POSCO | Puma | Pohang Government | |
| Seongnam FC | Chung Kyung-ho (caretaker) | Seongnam Government | Umbro | ||
| FC Seoul | An Ik-soo | GS Group | Pro-Specs | ||
| Suwon Samsung Bluewings | Lee Byung-keun | Cheil Worldwide | Puma | Samsung Electronics | |
| Suwon FC | Kim Do-kyun | Suwon Government | Hummel | ||
| Ulsan Hyundai | Hong Myung-bo | Hyundai Heavy Industries | Adidas | Hyundai Oil Bank |
Restricting the number of foreign players strictly to five per team, including a slot for a player from the Asian Football Confederation countries and a slot for a player from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Gimcheon Sangmu FC, being a military-owned team, is not allowed to sign any foreign players. A team could use five foreign players on the field each game, including at least one player from the AFC confederation.
North Korean player An Byong-jun was deemed as a native player in K League by South Korean law and passport.
Players in bold were registered during the mid-season transfer window.
Teams played each other twice, once at home, once away.
Teams played each other once, either at home or away.
Teams played each other once, either at home or away.
The tenth-placed team and the eleventh-placed team played against the play-offs winners and the runners-up of the K League 2, respectively, in the relegation play-offs.
Suwon Samsung Bluewings won 2–1 on aggregate and therefore both clubs remain in their respective leagues.----Daejeon Hana Citizen won 6–1 on aggregate and was promoted to K League 1, while Gimcheon Sangmu was relegated to K League 2.
Cho Gue-sung, who appeared in less matches than Joo Min-kyu, won the top goalscorer award.[2]
| Rank | Player[3] | Club | Goals | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=center rowspan=2 | 1 | Cho Gue-sung | Gimcheon Sangmu Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | align=center rowspan=2 | 17 |
| Joo Min-kyu | Jeju United | ||||
| align=center rowspan=2 | 3 |  Stefan Mugoša | Incheon United | align=center rowspan=2 | 14 |
| Lee Seung-woo | Suwon FC | ||||
| align=center rowspan=3 | 5 | Modou Barrow | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | align=center rowspan=3 | 13 |
| Go Jae-hyeon | Daegu FC | ||||
| Oh Hyeon-gyu | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | ||||
| align=center rowspan=3 | 8 |  Césinha | Daegu FC | align=center rowspan=3 | 12 |
| Um Won-sang | Ulsan Hyundai | ||||
| Kim Dae-won | Gangwon FC | ||||
| Rank | Player | Club | Assists | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lee Ki-je | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 14 | ||
| 2 | Kim Dae-won | Gangwon FC | 13 | ||
| 3 | Sin Jin-ho | Pohang Steelers | 10 | ||
| align=center rowspan=6 | 4 | Zeca | Daegu FC | align=center rowspan=6 | 7 |
| Lars Veldwijk | Suwon FC | ||||
| Joo Min-kyu | Jeju United | ||||
 Gerso Fernandes | Jeju United | ||||
| Lee Yeong-jae | Gimcheon Sangmu | ||||
| Cho Young-wook | FC Seoul | ||||
| align=center rowspan=3 | 10 | Modou Barrow | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | align=center rowspan=3 | 6 |
| Césinha | Daegu FC | ||||
| Um Won-sang | Ulsan Hyundai | ||||
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joo Min-kyu | Jeju United | Gimcheon Sangmu | 3–1 | 8 May 2022 | |
| Stefan Mugoša | Incheon United | Gangwon FC | 4–1 | 22 June 2022 |
| Month | Player of the Month | Young Player of the Month | Manager of the Month | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Club | Player | Club | Manager | Club | |||||
| February/March | Stefan Mugoša | Incheon | Jeon Seong-soo | Seongnam | Hong Myung-bo | Ulsan | 1 | |||
| April | Stefan Mugoša | Incheon | Yang Hyun-jun | Gangwon | bgcolor=darkgray | Lee Jung-hyo | bgcolor=darkgray | Gwangju | align=center bgcolor=darkgray | 2 |
| May | Cesinha | Daegu | Hwang Jae-won | Daegu | Nam Ki-il | Jeju | 1 | |||
| June | Lee Seung-woo | Suwon FC | Yang Hyun-jun | Gangwon | Kim Do-kyun | Suwon FC | 1 | |||
| July | Gustavo | Jeonbuk | Yang Hyun-jun | Gangwon | Kim Sang-sik | Jeonbuk | 1 | |||
| August | Hernandes | Incheon | Kim Jin-ho | Gangwon | Jo Sung-hwan | Incheon | 1 | |||
| September |  Modou Barrow | Jeonbuk | Yang Hyun-jun | Gangwon | bgcolor=darkgray | Lee Jung-hyo | bgcolor=darkgray | Gwangju | align=center bgcolor=darkgray | 2 |
| October | Cesinha | Daegu | Hong Si-hoo | Incheon | Choi Won-kwon | Daegu | 1 | |||
| Month | Goal of the Month | Performance of the Month | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Club | Player | Club | ||
| February |  Jun Amano | Ulsan | — | ||
| March | Cho Gue-sung | Gimcheon | — | ||
| April | Kim Gyeong-min | Gimcheon | — | ||
| May | Joo Min-kyu | Jeju | Lee Seung-woo | Suwon FC | |
| June | Lee Seung-woo | Suwon FC | Choi Young-jun | Jeju | |
| July | Yang Hyun-jun | Gangwon | Yang Hyun-jun | Gangwon | |
| August | Kim Hyun | Suwon FC | Jeon Jin-woo | Suwon | |
| September | Oh Hyeon-gyu | Suwon | Sin Jin-ho | Pohang | |
| October | Um Won-sang | Ulsan | — | ||
The 2022 K League Awards was held on 24 October 2022.[4]
| Position | Best XI | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Jo Hyeon-woo (Ulsan) | ||||
| Defenders | Kim Tae-hwan (Ulsan) | Park Jin-seop (Jeonbuk) | Kim Young-gwon (Ulsan) | Kim Jin-su (Jeonbuk) | |
| Midfielders | Lee Chung-yong (Ulsan) | Cesinha (Daegu) | Sin Jin-ho (Pohang) | Kim Dae-won (Gangwon) | |
| Forwards | Joo Min-kyu (Jeju) | Cho Gue-sung (Gimcheon, Jeonbuk) | |||
