List of provincial-level cities of South Korea

Special city
Hangul	특별시
Hanja	特別市
Revised Romanization	teukbyeolsi
McCune–Reischauer	t'ŭkpyŏlsi
Metropolitan city
Hangul	광역시
Hanja	廣域市
Revised Romanization	gwangyeoksi
McCune–Reischauer	kwangyŏksi
Special self-governing City
Hangul	특별자치시
Hanja	特別自治市
Revised Romanization	teukbyeol-jachisi
McCune–Reischauer	t’ŭkpyŏl-chach’isi

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.

Type	Hangul	Hanja	RR	City names	No. of cities
Special city	특 별 시	[[[wikt:特\|特]]別市] Error: {{Lang}}: script: kore not supported for code: ko (help)	teukbyeolsi	Seoul	1
Metropolitan city	광 역 시	[[[wikt:廣\|廣]]域市] Error: {{Lang}}: script: kore not supported for code: ko (help)	gwangyeoksi	Busan, Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju, Incheon, Ulsan	6
Special self-governing city	특 별 자 치 시	[[[wikt:特\|特]]別自治市] Error: {{Lang}}: script: kore not supported for code: ko (help)	teukbyeol-jachisi	Sejong	1

Seoul was designated a "special free city" (teukbyeol jayusi; 특별자유시; [特別自由市] Error: {{Lang}}: script: kore not supported for code: ko (help)) 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] Error: {{Lang}}: script: kore not supported for code: ko (help)) 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

Name	Hangul	Hanja	Type	ISO	Population	Area (km²)	Density (/km²)	City seat	Region	Province split from	Year of Split
Busan	부산광역시	[釜山廣域市] Error: {{Lang}}: script: kore not supported for code: ko (help)	Metropolitan city	KR-26	3,574,340	766	4,666	Yeonje	Yeongnam	South Gyeongsang	1963
Daegu	대구광역시	[大邱廣域市] Error: {{Lang}}: script: kore not supported for code: ko (help)	Metropolitan city	KR-27	2,512,604	884	2,842	Jung	Yeongnam	North Gyeongsang	1981
Daejeon	대전광역시	[大田廣域市] Error: {{Lang}}: script: kore not supported for code: ko (help)	Metropolitan city	KR-30	1,442,857	540	2,673	Seo	Hoseo	South Chungcheong	1989
Gwangju	광주광역시	[光州廣域市] Error: {{Lang}}: script: kore not supported for code: ko (help)	Metropolitan city	KR-29	1,415,953	501	2,824	Seo	Honam	South Jeolla	1986
Incheon	인천광역시	[仁川廣域市] Error: {{Lang}}: script: kore not supported for code: ko (help)	Metropolitan city	KR-28	2,710,579	965	2,810	Namdong	Sudogwon	Gyeonggi	1981
Sejong	세종특별자치시	[世宗特別自治市] Error: {{Lang}}: script: kore not supported for code: ko (help)	Special self-governing city	KR-50	122,263	465	380	Hansol-dong	Hoseo	South Chungcheong	2012
Seoul	서울특별시	서울[特別市] Error: {{Lang}}: script: kore not supported for code: ko (help)*	Special city	KR-11	10,464,051	605	17,288	Jung	Sudogwon	Gyeonggi	1946
Ulsan	울산광역시	[蔚山廣域市] Error: {{Lang}}: script: kore not supported for code: ko (help)	Metropolitan city	KR-31	1,126,879	1,056	1,030	Nam	Yeongnam	South Gyeongsang	1997

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] Error: {{Lang}}: script: kore not supported for code: ko (help)) 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

References

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

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

[1]

v t e Regions and administrative divisions of South Korea
Regions	Gyeonggi 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 Gyeonggi North Gyeongsang South Gyeongsang South Jeolla (Claimed five Northern Korean Provinces)
Special self-governing province and States	Jeju Gangwon Jeonbuk
Special city	Seoul
Special self-governing city	Sejong
Metropolitan cities	Busan Daegu Daejeon Gwangju Incheon Ulsan