Hwaebul Cup

The Hwaebul Cup (홰불, Torch) is an annual association football competition in men's domestic football in North Korea. It is organised by the DPR Korea Football Association, the governing body of football in North Korea. The competition is held for Youth Day, 28 August, one of North Korea's major holidays.^[1]

Hwaebul Cup

Organising body	DPR Korea Football Association
Founded	2013; 12 years ago (2013)
Region	North Korea
Number of teams	12
International cup(s)	AFC Challenge League
Current champions	Rimyongsu (1st title)
Most successful club(s)	April 25 (4 titles)
2022 Hwaebul Cup

Competition format

Beginning in July or August, the competition proceeds in two stages. The first stage consists of the teams divided into two groups playing in a single round-robin basis,^[2] with the winner and second-place team of each group advancing to the knockout stage consisting of two semi-final matches and a final, which is played on 28 August of each year.^[1]

Venues

All matches are played at one stadium in Pyongyang, which varies year to year. In 2013 the matches were held at the Kim Il-sung Stadium,^[3] in 2014 at Yanggakdo Stadium,^[4] in 2015 at Rungrado 1st of May Stadium,^[5] in 2016 at Sŏsan Stadium,^[6] and in 2017 once again at Rungrado Stadium.^[7]

List of champions

• 2013: April 25^[3]
• 2014: April 25^[4]
• 2015: April 25^[5]
• 2016: April 25^[6]
• 2017: Sobaeksu^[7]
• 2018: Ryomyong^[8]
• 2019: Ryomyong^[9]
• 2022: Rimyongsu^[10]
• 2024: April 25^[11] - Clinched 2025–26 AFC Challenge League Qualifying Play-off spot. But they can participate the competition only if they obtain the club licence from the Asian Football Confederation.