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 special cities

• Notes: There is no hanja for "Seoul," but in Chinese, it is written by its Joseon Dynasty name Hanseong (韓城). The new Chinese name, 首爾/首尔, is a transcription based on the pronunciation of "Seoul". As a suffix, the character gyeong (京) is used, which means "capital".

See also

• Administrative divisions 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 Capital area Gwandong Yeongdong Yeongseo Hoseo Daejeon-Sejong-Chungnam Chungbuk Honam Jeju Yeongnam Daegu-Gyeongbuk Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam Southeastern MIR Provinces North Chungcheong South Chungcheong Gangwon Gyeonggi North Gyeongsang South Gyeongsang North Jeolla South Jeolla Special autonomous province Jeju Special city Seoul Special autonomous 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