Several changes had been proposed to make the Korean Super League a more exciting competition in its second year. The amateur corporate clubs Daewoo and POSCO gained professional status and changed names, becoming Daewoo Royals and POSCO Dolphins respectively. The league was also expanded to eight sides, with the admission of three new sides. Hanil Bank were admitted to the Super League from the Amateur Football Championship, and two new professional sides, Hyundai Horang-i and Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso, were also accepted. Also changed were the points system and the method of deciding the league champion. From 1984, three points would be awarded for a match victory. Games that ended in no-score draws would receive one point apiece, but games that ended in score-draws would see the teams earn two points each. Then, the league season would consist of two separate sections. The top team after each section would then progress to a two-legged championship play-off at Dongdaemun Stadium to decide the overall champion.
The 1984 season kicked off at the very end of March, again organized on the tour basis. Four matches were played at Dongdaemun Stadium in the space of three days, with Lucky-Goldstar kicking off their Super League campaign with a superb 1-0 win over defending champions Hallelujah. The 1984 tour included several new cities, stopping at Wonju, Incheon and Gangneung along the way as well as Hyochang Stadium in Seoul, the second capital venue.
Again the league took a break in June to make way for the President's Cup. The Korean national team opened with a 3-2 victory over West German club side Bayer Leverkusen and then drew 2-2 with Peruvian side Alianza. A 2-0 win over the Guatemalan national team was enough to secure the Korean national team's passage to the semifinals where they were drawn to face Super League side Hallelujah. The 1983 league champions defeated the national team 2-1, however they then lost out to Brazilian club side Bango Athletico in the final. The national team secured third place in the tournament by beating Bayer Leverkusen for the second time in the tournament, winning 2-1 in Dongdaemun.
Kookmin Bank for the second year in a row had a disastrous season in the Super League and finished overall bottom of the table. They would eventually be demoted back to the amateur Football Conference for the 1985 season. Hanil Bank also struggled in their debut year and Lucky-Goldstar, despite the great opening day win, finished second-bottom of the league. The other new club, Hyundai Horang-i, had a great year and achieved the second-highest overall points total. However, as Daewoo Royals and Yukong Elephants had won the respective sections of the league it was they who would contest the championship play-off in November. Both games took place on consecutive days, with Daewoo Royals triumphing 1-0 and then securing a 1-1 draw the following day to lift the 2nd Super League Championship.
Just one month before the championship play-off, the Korean national team baptized the newly built Seoul Olympic stadium in a friendly match with African side Cameroon, which Korea resoundingly won 5-0.
Six days after that friendly match, the Korean team traveled to Calcutta for the qualifying matches for the 8th Asian Cup tournament, to be held in Singapore. Korea crushed both North Yemen and Pakistan 6-0 on their way to securing qualification for the tournament. The Asian Cup, played in early December that year, was not a happy time for the Koreans. Two draws with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were followed up by 1-0 defeats to Syria and Qatar as Korea meekly bowed out.
1985 saw the Super League revert to the format employed in the opening season, partly due to the perceived unfairness of Hyundai Horang-i not being given the full credit they deserved for what was effectively a more successful season than Yukong Elephants'. POSCO Dolphins again changed their team name, becoming the POSCO Atoms, and military side Sangmu were invited to replace the demoted Kookmin Bank club.
The year was also a World Cup qualifying year, and the KFA were hoping that the increased level of competition amongst the players brought about by the inception of the Super League would lead to qualification for their first World Cup since 1954. The national team began its campaign with a good 2-0 win over Nepal, before slipping up in Malaysia. Luckily, in the return matches the Koreans found form and defeated both countries to progress to the second group stage.
The Super League competition again began in March, and had the by now customary break in June to make way for the President's Cup. The Korean national team reached the final where they faced and defeated the Korean Olympic team, who were beginning preparations for the tournament just three years away. The second round of World Cup qualifiers followed soon after, with Korea drawn in a two-legged tie against Indonesia. Korea won the home leg 2-0 and then triumphed 4-1 in Jakarta to reach the final qualifying round. Two places in the 1986 tournament had been awarded to the Asian Football Confederation, so two two-legged ties would decide the qualifiers. Iraq defeated Syria 3-1 in one of the ties to book their place in Mexico, and Korea squared up to Japan in the other tie. A 2-1 win in Tokyo, thanks to goals from Chung Yong-hwan and Lee Tae-ho, put the Koreans in the driving seat and when second half substitute Huh Jung-moo put Korea 1-0 up in the return leg in the Seoul Olympic stadium in front of 100,000 spectators, Korea's passage to Mexico was confirmed.
Earlier in the year, Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso had secured the Super League championship, finishing two points ahead of POSCO Atoms and Daewoo Royals, who tied for second place. Hallelujah, proud champions in 1983, finished bottom of the league with only three wins in the twenty-one game season. It was to be the Christian club's final participation in the Super League, as they turned amateur after the end of the season and dropped back to the Amateur Football Championship. Sangmu too would leave the Super League, having finished sixth in the eight-team league.
