South Korea is made up of 17 first-tier administrative divisions: 6 metropolitan cities (gwangyeoksi 광역시/廣域市), 1 special city (teukbyeolsi 특별시/特別市), 1 special self-governing city (teukbyeol-jachisi 특별자치시/特別自治市), and 9 provinces (do 도/道), including two special self-governing provinces (teukbyeol jachido 특별자치도/特別自治道).[1][2] These are further subdivided into a variety of smaller entities, including cities (si 시/市), counties (gun 군/郡), districts (gu 구/區), towns (eup 읍/邑), townships (myeon 면/面), neighborhoods (dong 동/洞) and villages (ri 리/里).[3]

Local government

Official Revised Romanization of Korean spellings are used

LevelGroup nameTypeHangulHanjaRR RomajaNo.
(2014)
1Upper-level local autonomy[4]
광역지방자치단체
廣域地方自治團體		 Province도道do7
Special self-governing province특별자치도特別自治道teukbyeol-jachido2
Special city특별시特別市teukbyeolsi1
Special self-governing city특별자치시特別自治市teukbyeol-jachisi1
Metropolitan city광역시廣域市gwangyeoksi6
2Lower-level local autonomy[4]
기초지방자치단체(Municipality)
基礎地方自治團體		 City시市si60
City (specific)시 (특정시)市 (特定市)si (teukjeongsi)15
County군郡gun82
District (autonomous)구 (자치구)區 (自治區)gu (jachigu)69
3 N/ACity (administrative)시 (행정시)市 (行政市)si (haengjeongsi)2
District (non-autonomous)구 (일반구)區 (一般區)gu (ilbangu)35
4N/ATown읍邑eup216
Township면面myeon1198
Neighborhood (legal-status)동 (법정동)洞 (法定洞)dong (beopjeongdong)2073
Neighborhood (administrative)동 (행정동)洞 (行政洞)dong (haengjeongdong)
5N/AUrban Village통統tong
Rural Village리里ri
6N/AHamlet반班ban

Provincial-level divisions

The top tier of administrative divisions are the provincial-level divisions, of which there are several types: provinces (including special self-governing provinces), metropolitan cities, special cities, and special self-governing cities. The governors of the provincial-level divisions are elected every four years.[2]

CodeEmblemNameOfficial English name[5]HangulHanja Population
2020 Census		 Area
(km2)		 Population density
2022 (per km2)
KR-11
Seoul special citySeoul서울특별시서울特別市 9,586,195 605.20 15,578.16/km2
KR-26
Busan metropolitan cityBusan부산광역시釜山廣域市 3,349,016 770.04 4,309.46/km2
KR-27
Daegu metropolitan cityDaegu대구광역시大邱廣域市 2,410,700 883.49 2,675.25/km2
KR-28
Incheon metropolitan cityIncheon인천광역시仁川廣域市 2,945,454 1,062.63 2,782.40/km2
KR-29
Gwangju metropolitan cityGwangju광주광역시光州廣域市 1,477,573 501.24 2,855.02/km2
KR-30
Daejeon metropolitan cityDaejeon대전광역시大田廣域市 1,488,435 539.85 2,681.14/km2
KR-31
Ulsan metropolitan cityUlsan울산광역시蔚山廣域市 1,135,423 1,057.14 1,047.01/km2
KR-50
Sejong special self-governing citySejong Special Self-Governing City세종특별자치시世宗特別自治市 346,275 465.23 824.93/km2
KR-41
Gyeonggi-doGyeonggi Province경기도京畿道 13,511,676 10,184 1,336.10/km2
KR-42
Gangwon special self-governing provinceGangwon State강원특별지치도江原特別自治道 1,521,763 16,875 91.06/km2
KR-43
Chungcheongbuk-doNorth Chungcheong Province충청북도忠淸北道 1,632,088 7,433 215.34/km2
KR-44
Chungcheongnam-doSouth Chungcheong Province충청남도忠淸南道 2,176,636 8,204 258.08/km2
KR-45
Jeonbuk special self-governing provinceJeonbuk State전북특별자치도全北特別自治道 1,802,766 8,067 219.31/km2
KR-46
Jeollanam-doSouth Jeolla Province전라남도全羅南道 1,788,807 12,247 147.36/km2
KR-47
Gyeongsangbuk-doNorth Gyeongsang Province경상북도慶尙北道 2,644,757 19,030 136.64/km2
KR-48
Gyeongsangnam-doSouth Gyeongsang Province경상남도慶尙南道 3,333,056 10,533 311.26/km2
KR-49
Jeju special self-governing provinceJeju Special Self-Governing Province제주특별자치도濟州特別自治道 670,858 1,849 366.74/km2

Municipal-level divisions

A map of all South Korean metropolitan cities' districts (gu), municipal cities (si), and counties (gun).

Si (city)

A si (시; 市, pronounced [ɕi]) is one of the divisions of a province, along with gun. A city must have a neighborhood(dong) and can have towns(eup), townships(myeon) if the city is combined with urban and rural areas. Once a eup of a county (gun) attains a population of 50,000, the county can become a city. A city with a population of over 500,000 (such as Suwon, Cheongju, Cheonan and Jeonju) is considered as a specific city, which can set non-autonomous districts(gu). An administrative city does not have a city council and the mayor of the city is appointed by the provincial governor.

Gun (county)

A gun (군; 郡) is one of the divisions of a province (along with si), and of the metropolitan cities of Busan, Daegu, Incheon and Ulsan (along with gu). A gun has a population of less than 150,000 (more than that would make it a city or si), is less densely populated than a gu, and is more rural in character than either of the other 2 divisions. Gun are comparable to British non-metropolitan districts. Counties are divided into towns (eup) and townships (myeon). Specially, the size of a "gun" is less than a US "county".

Gu (district)

A gu (구; 區) is equivalent to district in the West. The metropolitan cities of Busan, Daegu, Incheon and Ulsan contain gun as well. Gu are similar to boroughs in some Western countries, and a gu office handles many of the functions that would be handled by the city in other jurisdictions. Gu are divided into neighborhoods (dong).

Submunicipal level divisions

Eup (town)

An eup (읍; 邑) is similar to the unit of town. Along with myeon, an eup is one of the divisions of a county (gun), and of some cities (si) with a population of less than 500,000. The main town or towns in a county—or the secondary town or towns within a city's territory—are designated as eup. Towns are subdivided into villages (ri). In order to form an eup, the minimum population required is 20,000.

Myeon (township)

A myeon (면; 面) is one of the divisions – along with eup – of a county (gun) and some cities (si) of fewer than 500,000 population. Myeons have smaller populations than eup and represent the rural areas of a county or city. Myeon are subdivided into villages (ri). The minimum population limit is 6,000.

Dong (neighborhood)

A dong (동; 洞) is the primary division of districts (gu), and of those cities (si) which are not divided into districts. The dong is the smallest level of urban government to have its own office and staff. In some cases, a single legal dong is divided into several administrative dong. Administrative dong are usually distinguished from one another by number (as in the case of Myeongjang 1-dong and Myeongjang 2-dong). In such cases, each administrative dong has its own office and staff.

The primary division of a dong is the tong (통; 統), but divisions at this level and below are seldom used in daily life.[6] Some populous dong are subdivided into ga (가; 街), which are not a separate level of government, but only exist for use in addresses. Many major thoroughfares in Seoul, Suwon, and other cities are also subdivided into ga.[7]

Ri (village)

A ri (리; 里) is the only division of towns (eup) and townships (myeon). The ri is the smallest level of rural government to contain any significant number of people.[8]

History

Although the details of local administration have changed over time, the basic outline of the current three-tiered system was implemented under the reign of Gojong in 1895. A similar system also remains in use in North Korea.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Administrative division". South Korea Government. Archived from the original on June 1, 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Local Governments". KOREA.net. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  3. ↑ Stevens, Andrew. "Seoul Mayor first among equals". City Mayors. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  4. 1 2 "Local Governments". Korea.net. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  5. ↑ http://www.ngii.go.kr/en/download/Toponymic_Guidelines_ROK.pdf Archived 2017-03-12 at the Wayback Machine, p. 41.
  6. ↑ 통 (in Korean). Nate / Encyclopedia of Korean Culture. Archived from the original on 2013-04-11. Retrieved 2013-03-18.
  7. ↑ "부산광역시 법정 동·리(洞·里) 현황 Busan city administrative units". Busan City. Archived from the original on 2012-05-18. Retrieved 2013-03-18.
  8. ↑ 이 / 里 (in Korean). Nate / Encyclopedia of Korean Culture. Archived from the original on 2013-04-11. Retrieved 2013-03-18.
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