List of cities of South Korea
| City | |
| Hangul | 시 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 市 |
| Revised Romanization | si |
| McCune–Reischauer | si |
| Specific city | |
| Hangul | 특정시 |
| Hanja | 特定市 |
| Revised Romanization | teukjeongsi |
| McCune–Reischauer | t'ŭkchŏngsi |
| Administrative city | |
| Hangul | 행정시 |
| Hanja | 行政市 |
| Revised Romanization | haengjeongsi |
| McCune–Reischauer | haengchŏngsi |
| This article is part of a series on the |
| Administrative divisions of South Korea |
|---|
| Provincial level |
| Province (list) |
| Special self-governing province (Jeju) |
| Special city (Seoul) |
| Metropolitan city (list) |
| Metropolitan autonomous city (Sejong) |
| Municipal level |
| Specific city (list) |
| City (list) |
| County (list) |
| Autonomous District (list) |
| Submunicipal level |
| Administrative city (list) |
| Non-autonomous District (list) |
| Town (list) |
| Township (list) |
| Neighborhood (list) |
| Village (list) |
| Hamlet |
A city is a municipal administrative unit in South Korea. Cities are ranked on the same level as county and autonomous district. Like other contemporary administrative units, they are defined by the Local Autonomy Law.
City status
Under South Korean laws sets the following condition for a municipality to be designated as a city: population of a county must generally be 150,000 or greater or passage of a special legislative bill by the National Assembly such as Gyeryong.
Classifications for large municipal cities
The national government can designate cities of at least 500,000 inhabitants to have the status of Special status city. These statuses expand the scope of administrative authority delegated from the provincial government to the city government. Also city with be reclassify as a Metropolitan city of at least 1,000,000 inhabitants, currently only Suwon and Changwon have meet the requirements but have not yet been nominated.
Specific city
A Specific city is a municipal city that has a population greater than 500,000 and has been designated as such by an order of the National Government under Article 175 of the Local Autonomy Law. Specific city are given powers to subdivide themselves into non-autonomous districts (일반구; 一般區) but, not all Specific city are subdivided into non-autonomous districts such as Gimhae, Hwaseong, or Namyangju. Currently South Korea have a total of 15 Specific cities.
| City | Hangul | Hanja | Province | Population (2012) | Area | Founded | Date of designation | No. of districts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ansan | 안산시 | 安山市 | Gyeonggi | 715,313 | 149.06 | 1986-01-01 | 2003-12-23 | 2 |
| Anyang | 안양시 | 安養市 | Gyeonggi | 614,170 | 58.46 | 1973-07-01 | 2003-12-23 | 2 |
| Bucheon | 부천시 | 富川市 | Gyeonggi | 872,662 | 53.40 | 1973-07-01 | 2003-12-23 | 3 |
| Changwon | 창원시 | 昌原市 | South Gyeongsang | 1,091,733 | 736.34 | 1980-04-01 | 2003-12-23 | 5 |
| Cheongju | 청주시 | 淸州市 | North Chungcheong | 662,852 | 153.45 | 1949-08-15 | 2003-12-23 | 4 |
| Goyang | 고양시 | 高陽市 | Gyeonggi | 961,451 | 267.31 | 1992-02-01 | 2003-12-23 | 3 |
| Jeonju | 전주시 | 全州市 | North Jeolla | 647,504 | 206.22 | 1949-08-15 | 2003-12-23 | 2 |
| Pohang | 포항시 | 浦項市 | North Gyeongsang | 517,322 | 1128.76 | 1949-08-14 | 2003-12-23 | 2 |
| Seongnam | 성남시 | 城南市 | Gyeonggi | 979,412 | 141.82 | 1973-07-01 | 2003-12-23 | 3 |
| Suwon | 수원시 | 水原市 | Gyeonggi | 1,098,010 | 121.09 | 1949-08-14 | 2003-12-23 | 4 |
| Yongin | 용인시 | 龍仁市 | Gyeonggi | 898,530 | 591.36 | 1996-03-01 | 2003-12-23 | 3 |
| Cheonan | 천안시 | 天安市 | South Chungcheong | 574,148 | 636.22 | 1963-01-01 | 2008-06-23 | 2 |
| Namyangju | 남양주시 | 南楊州市 | Gyeonggi | 580,151 | 458.54 | 1989-01-01 | 2008-10-07 | ∅ |
| Hwaseong | 화성시 | 華城市 | Gyeonggi | 517,505 | 687.54 | 2001-03-21 | 2010-09-27 | ∅ |
| Gimhae | 김해시 | 金海市 | South Gyeongsang | 507,726 | 463.28 | 1981-07-01 | 2010-10-04 | ∅ |
Cities with more than 400,000
- Pyeongtaek (평택시 / 平澤市) - Population: 453,437; Area: 452.31 km²; Density: 1,002.49 /km²
- Uijeongbu (의정부시 / 議政府市) - Population: 431,149; Area: 81.59 km²; Density: 5,284.33 /km²
- Gumi (구미시 / 龜尾市) - Population: 417,708; Area: 617.28 km²; Density: 676.69 /km²
- Paju (파주시 / 坡州市) - Population: 416,439; Area: 672.56 km²; Density: 619.18 /km²
Administrative city
An Administrative city is a type of municipal city that are created on 1 July 2006 after the 2005 referendum in Jeju and the province was given extensive administrative powers that had previously been reserved for the central government. Since Jeju was given more autonomy cities in Jeju could not be defined by the Local Autonomy Law so this new class of city was created for Jeju. Currently only two cities are classify as Administrative city.
| City | Hangul | Hanja | Province | Population (2012) | Area | Founded | Date of designation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeju | 제주시 | 濟州市 | Jeju | 423,853 | 977.80 | 1955-09-01 | 2006-07-01 |
| Seogwipo | 서귀포시 | 西歸浦市 | Jeju | 153,241 | 870.87 | 1981-07-01 | 2006-07-01 |