Classical swine fever (CSF) is a severe disease that has caused serious economic losses for the global pig industry and is widely prevalent worldwide. In recent decades, CSF has been effectively controlled through compulsory vaccination with a live CSF vaccine (C strain). It has been successfully eradicated in some countries or regions. However, the re-emergence of CSF in Japan and Romania, where it had been eradicated, has brought increased attention to the disease. Because the traditional C-strain vaccine cannot distinguish between vaccinated and infected animals (DIVA), this makes it difficult to fight CSF. The emergence of marker vaccines is considered to be an effective strategy for the decontamination of CSF. This paper summarizes the progress of the new CSF marker vaccine and provides a detailed overview of the vaccine design ideas and immunization effects. It also provides a methodology for the development of a new generation of vaccines for CSF and vaccine development for other significant epidemics.