Administrative divisions of South Korea

South Korea is divided into 8 provinces (do 도/道), 1 special autonomous province (teukbyeol jachido 특별자치도/特別自治道), 6 metropolitan cities (gwangyeoksi 광역시/廣域市), and 1 special city (teukbyeolsi 특별시/特別市). 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), as explained below.

Note on translation: although the terms "Special City", "Metropolitan City", "Province", and "City" are commonly used on English-language government websites, the other translations — "county", "town", "district", etc. — are not official translations, and are only intended to serve as useful illustrations of each entity's meaning.

Local government

Official Revised Romanization of Korean spellings are used

Level	Group name	Type	Hangul	Hanja	RR Romaja	No. (2014)
1	Upper level local autonomy 광역자치단체 廣域自治團體	Province	도	道	do	8
		Special self-governing province	특별 자치도	特別自治道	teukbyeol-jachido	1
		Special city	특별시	特別市	teukbyeolsi	1
		Metropolitan autonomous city	특별 자치시	特別自治市	teukbyeol-jachisi	1
		Metropolitan city	광역시	廣域市	gwangyeoksi	6
2	Lower level local autonomy 기초자치단체 基礎自治團體	City	시	市	si	60
		City (specific)	시 (특정시)	市 (特定市)	si (teukjeongsi)	15
		City (administrative)	시 (행정시)	市 (行政市)	si (haengjeongsi)	2
		County	군	郡	gun	82
		District (autonomous)	구 (자치구)	區 (自治區))	gu (jachigu)	69
	N/A	District (non-autonomous)	구 (일반구)	區 (一般區)	gu (ilbangu)	35
3	N/A	Town	읍	邑	eup	216
		Township	면	面	myeon	1198
		Neighborhood (legal-status)	동 (법정동)	洞 (法定洞)	dong (beopjeongdong)	2073
		Neighborhood (administrative)	동 (행정동)	洞 (行政洞)	dong (haengjeongdong)
4	N/A	Urban Village	통	統	tong
		Rural Village	리	里	ri
5	N/A	Hamlet	반	班	ban

Provincial-level divisions

The top tier of administrative divisions are the provincial-level divisions, of which there are five types: provinces, special autonomous provinces, special cities, metropolitan cities and special autonomous cities. The governors of the provincial-level divisions are elected every four years.

Map	Code	Name	Hangul	Hanja
Gangwon Seoul Incheon Gyeonggi South Chungcheong North Chungcheong Sejong Daejeon North Gyeongsang North Jeolla Daegu Ulsan Busan South Gyeongsang Gwangju South Jeolla Jeju North Korea Japan Yellow Sea (West Sea) Korea Strait (Western Channel) Korea Strait (Tsushima Strait) Sea of Japan (East Sea)	KR-11	Seoul special city	서울특별시	서울特別市
	KR-26	Busan metropolitan city	부산광역시	釜山廣域市
	KR-27	Daegu metropolitan city	대구광역시	大邱廣域市
	KR-28	Incheon metropolitan city	인천광역시	仁川廣域市
	KR-29	Gwangju metropolitan city	광주광역시	光州廣域市
	KR-30	Daejeon metropolitan city	대전광역시	大田廣域市
	KR-31	Ulsan metropolitan city	울산광역시	蔚山廣域市
	KR-50	Sejong metropolitan autonomous city	세종특별자치시	世宗特別自治市
	KR-41	Gyeonggi Province	경기도	京畿道
	KR-42	Gangwon Province	강원도	江原道
	KR-43	North Chungcheong Province	충청북도	忠淸北道
	KR-44	South Chungcheong Province	충청남도	忠淸南道
	KR-45	North Jeolla Province	전라북도	全羅北道
	KR-46	South Jeolla Province	전라남도	全羅南道
	KR-47	North Gyeongsang Province	경상북도	慶尙北道
	KR-48	South Gyeongsang Province	경상남도	慶尙南道
	KR-49	Jeju special self-governing province	제주특별자치도	濟州特別自治道

Municipal-level divisions

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

Si (city)

A si (시; 市) is one of the divisions of a province, along with gun. Cities have a population of at least 150,000; once a county (gun) attains that population, it becomes a city (Gijang county in Busan is an exception). Cities with a population of over 500,000 (such as Suwon, Cheongju, and Jeonju) are divided into districts (gu); Gimhae, Hwaseong and Namyangju are noticeable exceptions to this rule. Gus are then further divided into neighborhoods (dong); cities with a population of less than 500,000 do not have wards – these cities are directly divided into neighborhoods (dong).

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 districts (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. Most cities are divided into gu, though 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.^[1] 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.^[2]

Ri (village)

A ri (리; 里) is the only division of towns (eup) and districts (myeon). The ri is the smallest level of rural government to contain any significant number of people.^[3]

History

Although the details of local administration have changed dramatically 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

References

1. 통 (in Korean). Nate / Encyclopedia of Korean Culture. Retrieved 2013-03-18.
2. "부산광역시 법정 동·리(洞·里) 현황 Busan city administrative units". Busan City. Retrieved 2013-03-18.
3. 이 / 里 (in Korean). Nate / Encyclopedia of Korean Culture. Retrieved 2013-03-18.

External links

• "Local Government". KOCIS. Retrieved 2013-03-14.
• "Seoul Mayor first among equals in South Korea local government". Citymajors. 2008-12-29. Retrieved 2013-03-14.
• "South Korea Administrative Districts". CityPopulation.de. Retrieved 2013-03-14.
• "ISO Subentity Codes for South Korea". GeoNames. Retrieved 2013-03-14.