Administrative divisions of South Korea

Template:Short description South Korea is made up of 17 first-tier administrative divisions: 6 metropolitan cities (gwangyeoksi ), 1 special city (teukbyeolsi ), 1 special self-governing city (teukbyeol-jachisi ), and 9 provinces (do ), including three special self-governing provinces (teukbyeol jachido ) and six claimed by the ROK government. These are further subdivided into a variety of smaller entities, including cities (si ), counties (gun ), districts (gu ), towns (eup ), townships (myeon ), neighborhoods (dong ) and villages (ri ).

Local government

Official Revised Romanization of Korean spellings are used

Level	Group name	Type	Hangeul	Hanja	RR Romaja	No. (2014)
1	Upper-level local autonomy	Province			do	6
		Special self-governing province			teukbyeol-jachido	3
		Special city			teukbyeolsi	1
		Special self-governing city			teukbyeol-jachisi	1
		Metropolitan city			gwangyeoksi	6
2	Lower-level local autonomy	City			si	60
		City (specific)			si (teukjeongsi)	15
		County			gun	82
		District (autonomous)			gu (jachigu)	69
3	N/A	City (administrative)			si (haengjeongsi)	2
		District (non-autonomous)			gu (ilbangu)	35
4	N/A	Town			eup	216
		Township			myeon	1198
		Neighborhood (legal-status)			dong (beopjeongdong)	2073
		Neighborhood (administrative)			dong (haengjeongdong)
5	N/A	Urban Village			tong
		Rural Village			ri
6	N/A	Hamlet			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. Template:South Korea Provincial level Labelled Map

Code	Emblem	Name	Official English name	Capital	Hangul	Hanja	Population 2020 Census	Area (km2)	Population density 2022 (per km2)
KR-11	File:Logo of Seoul, South Korea.svg	Seoul special city	Seoul	Jung District			9,586,195	605.20	15,578.16
KR-26	File:Symbol of Busan (2023–).svg	Busan metropolitan city	Busan	Yeonje District			3,349,016	770.04	4,309.46
KR-27	File:Symbol of Daegu.svg	Daegu metropolitan city	Daegu	Jung District, Buk District			2,410,700	883.49	2,675.25
KR-28	File:Emblem of Incheon.svg	Incheon metropolitan city	Incheon	Namdong District			2,945,454	1,062.63	2,782.40
KR-29	File:Emblem of Gwangju.svg	Gwangju metropolitan city	Gwangju	Seo District			1,477,573	501.24	2,855.02
KR-30	File:Emblem of Daejeon.svg	Daejeon metropolitan city	Daejeon	Seo District			1,488,435	539.85	2,681.14
KR-31	File:Symbol of Ulsan.svg	Ulsan metropolitan city	Ulsan	Nam District			1,135,423	1,057.14	1,047.01
KR-50	File:Sejong City symbol.svg	Sejong special self-governing city	Sejong Special Self-Governing City				346,275	465.23	824.93
KR-41	File:Emblem of Gyeonggi Province (2021).svg	Gyeonggi-do	Gyeonggi Province	Suwon, Uijeongbu			13,511,676	10,184	1,336.10
KR-42	File:Emblem of Gangwon State.svg	Gangwon special self-governing province	Gangwon State	Chuncheon			1,521,763	16,875	91.06
KR-43	File:Seal of North Chungcheong.svg	Chungcheongbuk-do	North Chungcheong Province	Cheongju			1,632,088	7,433	215.34
KR-44	File:Seal of South Chungcheong.svg	Chungcheongnam-do	South Chungcheong Province	Hongseong County			2,176,636	8,204	258.08
KR-45	File:Emblem of Jeonbuk State.svg	Jeonbuk special self-governing province	Jeonbuk State	Jeonju			1,802,766	8,067	219.31
KR-46	File:Seal of South Jeolla.svg	Jeollanam-do	South Jeolla Province	Muan County			1,788,807	12,247	147.36
KR-47	File:Seal of North Gyeongsang.svg	Gyeongsangbuk-do	North Gyeongsang Province	Andong			2,644,757	19,030	136.64
KR-48	File:Seal of South Gyeongsang.svg	Gyeongsangnam-do	South Gyeongsang Province	Changwon			3,333,056	10,533	311.26
KR-49	File:Logo of Jeju Province, South Korea.svg	Jeju special self-governing province	Jeju Special Self-Governing Province	Jeju City			670,858	1,849	366.74

Municipal-level divisions

File:South Korea second level divisions.svg

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

Si (city)

A si (, pronounced ) 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 an 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). City with a population of over 1,000,000, it can be promoted to a metropolitan city if the need is recognized. (Not as specified by law but customarily, such as Seoul(1946), Busan(1963), Incheon(1981), Daegu(1981), Gwangju(1986), Daejeon(1989) Ulsan(1997)) An administrative city does not have a city council and the mayor of the city is appointed by the provincial governor. (Jeju-si, Seogwipo-si)

Gun (county)

A gun () 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 () 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 () 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 () 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 eups and represent the rural areas of a county or city. Myeons are subdivided into villages (ri). The minimum population limit is 6,000.

Dong (neighborhood)

A dong () 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 (), but divisions at this level and below are seldom used in daily life. Some populous dong are subdivided into ga (), 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.

Ri (village)

A ri () 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.

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

• Administrative divisions of North Korea
• ISO 3166-2:KR, ISO codes for cities and provinces in South Korea
• List of cities in South Korea
• List of South Korean regions by GDP
• Provinces of Korea
• Special cities of South Korea