[FuzzyRussianHat]

East Asia Baseball saw a four-team expansion of the Japan League in 2025, moving it to 20 teams split between four divisions. The Korea League remained at 16 teams in two divisions, although the long-term plan was to do a similar expansion a few years later. In 2030, the KL made its additions to get to 20 teams and also split into a four-division format for the first time.



Three new South Korean teams entered the league with the Cheongju Checkers, Gimhae Golden Angels, and Jeju Islanders. EAB also added the Chongjin Ironbirds, a third team from North Korea. The league had only had two NK teams (Pyongyang and Hamhung) since EAB’s founding. Those teams had stayed in EAB despite political tensions, but those issues and North Korea’s own internal woes had prevented new NK teams from joining. By 2030, the political situation had gotten less tenuous and there was less pushback against the idea.



The next big step was figuring out how to divide the teams into four divisions after more than a century with a two division setup. The North Division would have the three NK teams (Pyongyang, Hamhung, Chongjin) along with Goyang and Seoul. Making up the Central Division was Bucheon, Incheon, Seongnam, Suwon, and Yongin. In the Southwest Division you had Jeonju, Gwangju, Jeju, Daejeon, and Cheongju. Lastly, the Southeast Division saw Busan, Daegu, Ulsan, Changwon, and Gimhae.

The Korea League also expanded the postseason to match the Japan League with the four division champs and two wild cards advancing. The wild card round was a best-of-four hosted by the division champ. They needed only two wins to advance, while the wild card had to win thrice. The divisional round was a HH-AA-H best of five, while the League Championship Series and EAB Championship were both HH-AAA-HH best-of-sevens.