List of special cities of South Korea

Special cities are one of the first-level administrative division within South Korea. There are 8 first-level cities in South Korea: Busan, Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju, Incheon, Sejong, Seoul and Ulsan.

Position in hierarchy and Types

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

• 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 "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.

List of metropolitan cities

• Notes: There is no hanja for "Seoul," but in Chinese, it is written by its Joseon Dynasty name Hanseong (漢城). The new Chinese name, (首爾/首尔; pinyin: Shǒu'ěr), is 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: 1,177,376; Area: 121.1 km²; Density: 9,722.34 /km²
• Changwon (창원시 / 昌原市) - Population: 1,106,081; Area: 736.34 km²; Density: 1,502.13 /km²
• Goyang (고양시 / 高陽市) - Population: 1,014,162; Area: 267.29 km²; Density: 3.794.23 /km²

Specific cities with more than 900,000

• Seongnam (성남시 / 城南市) - Population: 972,797; Area: 141.70 km²; Density: 6,865.18 /km²
• Yongin (용인시 / 龍仁市) - Population: 968,346; Area: 591.36 km²; Density: 1,637.48 /km²

See also

• Administrative divisions of South Korea
• Cities of South Korea
• List of cities in South Korea
• Provinces of South Korea
• Special cities of North Korea

References

Regions and administrative divisions of South Korea
Regions	Sudogwon (Capital area) Gwandong Yeongdong Yeongseo Hoseo Daejeon-Sejong-Chungnam Chungbuk Honam Yeongnam Daegu-Gyeongbuk Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam Southeastern MIR Jeju
Provinces	North Chungcheong South Chungcheong Gangwon Gyeonggi North Gyeongsang South Gyeongsang North Jeolla South Jeolla
Special self-governing province	Jeju
Special city	Seoul
Special self-governing city	Sejong
Metropolitan cities	Busan Daegu Daejeon Gwangju Incheon Ulsan
The Committee for the Five Northern Korean Provinces	North Hamgyeong South Hamgyeong Hwanghae North Pyeongan South Pyeongan