| Competition: | Hyundai Oilbank K League Classic |
| Season: | 2016 |
| Winners: | FC Seoul (6th title) |
| Continentalcup1: | Champions League |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | FC Seoul Jeju United Suwon Samsung Bluewings Ulsan Hyundai |
| Relegated: | Seongnam FC Suwon FC |
| Best Player: | Jung Jo-gook |
| League Topscorer: | Jung Jo-gook (20 goals) |
| Matches: | 228 |
| Total Goals: | 618 |
| Biggest Home Win: | Seoul 4–0 Sangju (20 March 2016) Sangju 4–0 Jeju (15 June 2016) Pohang 4–0 Ulsan (29 June 2016) |
| Biggest Away Win: | Jeonnam 0–5 Jeonbuk (2 November 2016) |
| Highest Scoring: | Suwon 4–5 Suwon FC (2 October 2016) |
| Highest Attendance: | 47,899 Seoul 1–1 Suwon (18 June 2016) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 923 Sangju 0–1 Jeonnam (16 October 2016) |
| Average Attendance: | 7,873 |
| Prevseason: | 2015 |
| Nextseason: | 2017 |
The 2016 K League Classic was the 34th season of the top division of South Korean professional football since its establishment in 1983, and the fourth season of the K League Classic.
| Gwangju FC | Incheon United | Jeju United | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | Jeonnam Dragons | Pohang Steelers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gwangju World Cup Stadium | Incheon Football Stadium | Jeju World Cup Stadium | Jeonju World Cup Stadium | Gwangyang Football Stadium | Pohang Steel Yard | |
| Capacity: 40,245 | Capacity: 20,891 | Capacity: 35,657 | Capacity: 42,477 | Capacity: 13,496 | Capacity: 17,443 | |
| Sangju Sangmu | Seongnam FC | FC Seoul | Suwon FC | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | Ulsan Hyundai | |
| Sangju Civic Stadium | Tancheon Stadium | Seoul World Cup Stadium | Suwon Sports Complex | Suwon World Cup Stadium | Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium | |
| Capacity: 15,042 | Capacity: 16,146 | Capacity: 66,704 | Capacity: 11,808 | Capacity: 44,031 | Capacity: 44,102 | |
| Team | Outgoing | Manner | Date | Incoming | Date | Table | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pohang Steelers | End of contract | 30 November 2015 |  Choi Jin-cheul | 30 November 2015 | Pre-season | ||
| Sangju Sangmu | End of contract | 11 December 2015 | Cho Jin-ho | 17 December 2015 | |||
| FC Seoul | Choi Yong-soo | Resigned | 21 June 2016 | Kim Seong-jae (caretaker) | 21 June 2016 | 2nd | |
| FC Seoul | Kim Seong-jae (caretaker) | Caretaker | 25 June 2016 | Hwang Sun-hong | 26 June 2016 | 2nd | |
| Incheon United | Kim Do-hoon | Resigned | 31 August 2016 | Lee Ki-hyung (caretaker) | 31 August 2016 | 12th | |
| Pohang Steelers | Choi Jin-cheul | Resigned | 24 September 2016 | Choi Soon-ho | 26 September 2016 | 9th | |
| Jeju United | Assigned as assistant | 14 October 2016 | Kim In-soo | 14 October 2016 | 3rd | ||
| Jeonnam Dragons | Assigned as assistant | 14 October 2016 | Song Kyung-sub | 14 October 2016 | 5th |
Restricting the number of foreign players strictly to four per team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries. A team could use four foreign players on the field each game including a least one player from the AFC confederation. Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.
Teams play each other twice, once at home, once away.
Teams play every other team once (either at home or away).
After 33 matches, the league splits into two sections of six teams each, with teams playing every other team in their section once (either at home or away). The exact matches are determined upon the league table at the time of the split.
The promotion-relegation play-offs were held between the winners of the 2016 K League Challenge play-offs and the 11th-placed club of the 2016 K League Classic. The winner on aggregate score after both matches earned entry into the 2017 K League Classic.
-----1–1 on aggregate. Gangwon FC won on away goals and were promoted to the K League Classic, while Seongnam FC were relegated to the K League Challenge.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jung Jo-gook | Gwangju FC | 20 | |
| 2 |  Adriano Michael Jackson | FC Seoul | 17 | |
| 3 | Tiago Alves | Seongnam FC | align=center rowspan=4 | 13 |
| Yang Dong-hyun | Pohang Steelers | |||
| Ricardo Lopes | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | |||
 Dejan Damjanović | FC Seoul | |||
| 7 | Lee Dong-gook | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | align=center rowspan=3 | 12 |
| Júnior Santos | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | |||
| Leonardo | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | |||
| 10 | Marcelo Toscano | Jeju United | 11 |
| Rank | Player | Club | Assists | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yeom Ki-hun | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 15 | |
| 2 | Lee Jae-sung | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | 11 | |
| 3 |  Kevin Oris | Incheon United | 10 | |
| 4 | Ivan Kovačec | Ulsan Hyundai | align=center rowspan=2 | 9 |
| Marcelo Toscano | Jeju United | |||
| 6 | Sin Jin-ho | FC Seoul Sangju Sangmu | align=center rowspan=4 | 8 |
| Park Gi-dong | Sangju Sangmu Jeonnam Dragons | |||
| Kim Min-hyeok | Gwangju FC | |||
| Kwon Soon-hyung | Jeju United | |||
| 10 | Yun Il-lok | FC Seoul | align=center rowspan=3 | 7 |
| Kim Bo-kyung | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | |||
 Pitu | Seongnam FC |
The 2016 K League Awards was held on 8 November 2016.
[1]| Month | Manager | Club | Division | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March/April | Choi Yong-soo | FC Seoul | K League Classic | |
| May | Nam Ki-il | Gwangju FC | K League Classic | |
| June | Lee Heung-sil | Ansan Mugunghwa | K League Challenge | |
| July | Choi Kang-hee | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | K League Classic | |
| August | Choi Young-jun | Busan IPark | K League Challenge | |
| September | Choi Yun-kyum | Gangwon FC | K League Challenge | |
| October | Hwang Sun-hong | FC Seoul | K League Classic |
Attendants who entered with free ticket are not counted.
| Rank | Date | Round | Home | Score | Away | Venue | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 June 2016 | 15 | 1–1 | Seoul World Cup Stadium | 47,899 | |||
| 2 | 13 August 2016 | 25 | 1–0 | Seoul World Cup Stadium | 36,309 | |||
| 3 | 6 November 2016 | 38 | 0–1 | 33,706 | ||||
| 4 | 12 March 2016 | 1 | 1–0 | Jeonju World Cup Stadium | 32,695 | |||
| 5 | 30 April 2016 | 8 | 1–1 | 28,109 | ||||
| 6 | 20 March 2016 | 2 | 4–0 | Seoul World Cup Stadium | 25,950 | |||
| 7 | 28 August 2016 | 28 | 1–3 | Seoul World Cup Stadium | 24,508 | |||
| 8 | 24 July 2016 | 22 | 2–1 | Jeonju World Cup Stadium | 21,437 | |||
| 9 | 10 August 2016 | 24 | 2–1 | Jeonju World Cup Stadium | 21,071 | |||
| 10 | 27 August 2016 | 28 | 1–1 | Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium | 20,239 |
