List of special cities of South Korea

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Special city
Hangul
Hanja
Revised Romanizationteukbyeolsi
McCune–Reischauert'ŭkpyŏlsi
Metropolitan city
Hangul
Hanja
Revised Romanizationgwangyeoksi
McCune–Reischauerkwangyŏksi
Special autonomous city
Hangul
Hanja
Revised Romanizationteukbyeol-jachisi
McCune–Reischauert’ŭkpyŏl-chach’isi
This article is part of
a series on the
Administrative divisions
of South Korea
Provincial level
Province (list)
Special self-governing province (Jeju)
Special city (Seoul)
Metropolitan city (list)
Special self-governing city (Sejong)
Municipal level
Specific city (list)
City (list)
County (list)
Autonomous District (list)
Submunicipal level
Administrative city (list)
Non-autonomous District (list)
Town (list)
Township (list)
Neighborhood (list)
 
Village ()
 
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Special cities are one of the first-level administrative divisions within South Korea. There is one first-level city in South Korea: Seoul.

Position in hierarchy and types[]

Special cities have equal status to provinces in the South Korean administrative scheme, and are among the highest-ranked administrative divisions of South Korea. There are three kinds of first-level city in South Korea.

Type Hangul Hanja RR City names No. of cities
Special City 특별시 特別市 teukbyeolsi Seoul 1
Metropolitan City 광역시 廣域市 gwangyeoksi Busan, Daegu, Incheon, Gwangju, Daejeon, Ulsan 6
Special Self-Governing City 특별자치시 特別自治市 teukbyeol-jachisi Sejong 1
  • Seoul was designated a "special free city" (teukbyeol jayusi; 특별자유시; 特別自由市) separate from Gyeonggi Province on August 15, 1946; it became a "special city" on August 15, 1949.[1]
  • Metropolitan cities were called "direct control (meaning directly-administered) city" (jikhalsi; 직할시; 直轄市) before 1995.

Administration[]

In South Korean special city and metropolitan cities, the Mayor is the highest-ranking official in charge. The Mayor is directly elected by the people registered in the city for a duration of four years. e.g. Mayor of Seoul.

Metropolitan functions such as water supply and public transport are integrated into the sole prefecture other than scattered to each municipality.

List of metropolitan cities[]

List of special cities of South Korea is located in South Korea
Seoul
Seoul
Busan
Busan
Daegu
Daegu
Incheon
Incheon
Gwangju
Gwangju
Daejeon
Daejeon
Ulsan
Ulsan
Sejong
Sejong
Special cites in South Korea
Name Hangul Hanja Type ISO Population
(2017)		 Area
(km2)		 Density
(/km2)		 City seat Region Province
split from		 Year of
Split
Busan 부산광역시 釜山廣域市 Metropolitan city KR-26 3,416,918 769.89 4,438.18 Yeonje Yeongnam South Gyeongsang 1963
Daegu 대구광역시 大邱廣域市 Metropolitan city KR-27 2,453,041 883.56 2,776.31 Jung Yeongnam North Gyeongsang 1981
Incheon 인천광역시 仁川廣域市 Metropolitan city KR-28 2,925,967 1,062.60 2,753.59 Namdong Sudogwon Gyeonggi 1981
Gwangju 광주광역시 光州廣域市 Metropolitan city KR-29 1,496,172 501.24 2,984.94 Seo Honam South Jeolla 1986
Daejeon 대전광역시 大田廣域市 Metropolitan city KR-30 1,525,849 539.35 2,829.05 Seo Hoseo South Chungcheong 1989
Sejong 세종특별자치시 世宗特別自治市 Special self-governing city KR-50 356,278 465.23 594.52 Boram-dong Hoseo South Chungcheong 2012
Seoul 서울특별시 서울特別市* Special city KR-11 9,741,381 605.21 16,095.86 Jung Sudogwon Gyeonggi 1946
Ulsan 울산광역시 蔚山廣域市 Metropolitan city KR-31 1,157,077 1,060.79 1,090.76 Nam Yeongnam South Gyeongsang 1997
Notes
  • There are no Hanja for "Seoul"; in Chinese, it is written as 首爾/首尔 (pinyin: Shǒu'ěr), a transcription based on the pronunciation of "Seoul". As a suffix, the character Gyeong (경/京) is used, which means "capital".

Specific cities that meet the minimum requirements for Metropolitan city status but have not yet been nominated[]

  • Suwon (수원시 / 水原市) - Population: 1,194,465; Area: 121.04 km2; Density: 9,868.34 /km2
  • Changwon (창원시 / 昌原市) - Population: 1,054,154; Area: 747.12 km2; Density: 1,410.95 /km2
  • Yongin (용인시 / 龍仁市) - Population: 1,048,832; Area: 591.32 km2; Density: 1,773.71 /km2
  • Goyang (고양시 / 高陽市) - Population: 1,043,035; Area: 267.41 km2; Density: 3,900.50 /km2

Specific cities with more than 900,000[]

  • Seongnam (성남시 / 城南市) - Population: 942,649; Area: 141.72 km2; Density: 6,651.48 /km2

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ 행정연혁 (in Korean). Seoul Metropolitan Government. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
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