Special 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 autonomous 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	특별시	特別市	teukbyeolsi	Seoul	1
Metropolitan city	광역시	廣域市	gwangyeoksi	Busan, Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju, Incheon, Ulsan	6
Metropolitan autonomous city	특별자치시	特別自治市	teukbyeol-jachisi	Sejong	1

• 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.
• 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

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	Metropolitan city	KR-26	3,574,340	766	4,666	Yeonje	Yeongnam	South Gyeongsang	1963
Daegu	대구광역시	大邱廣域市	Metropolitan city	KR-27	2,512,604	884	2,842	Jung	Yeongnam	North Gyeongsang	1981
Daejeon	대전광역시	大田廣域市	Metropolitan city	KR-30	1,442,857	540	2,673	Seo	Hoseo	South Chungcheong	1989
Gwangju	광주광역시	光州廣域市	Metropolitan city	KR-29	1,415,953	501	2,824	Seo	Honam	South Jeolla	1986
Incheon	인천광역시	仁川廣域市	Metropolitan city	KR-28	2,710,579	965	2,810	Namdong	Sudogwon	Gyeonggi	1981
Sejong	세종특별자치시	世宗特別自治市	Metropolitan autonomous city	KR-50	122,263	465	380	Hansol-dong	Hoseo	South Chungcheong	2012
Seoul	서울특별시	서울特別市*	Special city	KR-11	10,464,051	605	17,288	Jung	Sudogwon	Gyeonggi	1946
Ulsan	울산광역시	蔚山廣域市	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) 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