Each class has four or five finalists and there are no play-offs among the winners because they have already fought two contests to reach that stage and more fights would expose them to further risk of injury.
There is no particular breed of prize fighting bull. Competitors are selected from ordinary Korean bulls with light brown hair and short but sturdy horns curving gently forward.
Training includes pulling heavy tyres, climbing up hills, butting against poles and even swimming.
Stamina food is prepared before matches, recipes of which vary in accordance with handlers.
"Some bulls are treated to expensive herb tonics. Others enjoy mudfish and live octopus," an official of Cheongdo County says.
Ringside betting on bullfights used to be illegal but following a strong lobbying effort by bullfight organizers, South Korea's National Assembly in February last year passed a law legalizing the practice.
Now Cheongdo County has started building what it claims is the world's first bullfight arena with a domed roof that can open and close automatically.
However, work was suspended last year when the construction company went belly-up.
"The construction work will resume soon by another company. We expect it to be completed by the end of this year," says a spokesman of Cheongdo County of the US$80 million structure with 12,000 seats.
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