Administrative City

The largest cities of South Korea have an autonomous status equivalent to that of provinces. Seoul, the largest city and capital, is classified as a ''teukbyeolsi'' ( Special City), while the next six-largest cities are classified as ''gwangyeoksi'' (Metropolitan Cities). Smaller cities are classified as ''si'' ("cities") and are under provincial jurisdiction, at the same level as counties.

City status

Article 10 of the Local Autonomy Act defines the standards under which a populated area may become a city: an area which is predominantly urbanised and has a population of at least 50,000; a which has an urbanised area with a population of at least 50,000; or a which has a total population of at least 150,000 and multiple urbanised areas each with a population of at least 20,000. An English translation is available from the Korea Legislative Research Institute, but is out of date: Article 7 of the 2018 version of the law is similar in content to Article 10 of the 2021 version of the law, aside from cross-references to other articles.

Under Article 3 of the Local Autonomy Act, a city with a population of less than 500,000 may create administrative subdivisions in the form of in its urbanised area and or in its rural area, while a city with a population of more than 500,000 may create administrative subdivisions in the form of non-autonomous .

Classifications for large municipal cities

The national government can designate cities of at least 500,000 inhabitants as special status cities. This status expands the scope of administrative authority delegated from the provincial government to the city government.Article 198, Local Autonomy Act (2021). Article 175 of the 2018 version of the law has similar provisions but is less detailed.

Big city

A big city is a city (other than a special city or a metropolitan city) that has a population greater than 500,000, and has been designated by an order of the national government under Article 198 of the Local Autonomy Act. Big municipal cities are given the power to subdivide themselves into non-autonomous districts (; ).

Due its legal status as an administrative city, Jeju City cannot be designated as a "big city" under the Local Autonomy Law, despite having an estimated population exceeding 500,000 as of 2022. The designation of "administrative city" was created by the law which granted special self-governing status to Jeju Province; that law specifically states that the Local Autonomy Act would not apply to administrative cities. As such, Jeju City does not enjoy special autonomy and only has the same legal powers as the much smaller Seogwipo City. The administrative authority of Jeju City is trying to expand the scope of administrative authority delegated from the provincial government to the city government. See also

Special-status city

A special-status city is a subclass of big municipal city that has a population greater than 1,500,000.

List

; Notes
* The name "Seoul" does not originate from hanja. The official Chinese translation is written as /, which is a transcription based on the pronunciation of "Seoul", but / remains frequently used. As an affix or abbreviation, the character ''gyeong'' (), which means "capital", is used.
* Seoul was designated a "Special Independent City" (''Teukbyeol-jayusi;'' ) separate from Gyeonggi Province on August 16, 1946; it became a "Special City" on August 15, 1949.

Renamed cities

Dissolved cities

Claimed cities of the Committee for the Five Northern Korean Provinces

See also

* List of cities in South Korea by population
* Administrative divisions of South Korea

References

Sources

The Principal Cities of South Korea

Korea.net-Facts about Korea

Korea.net-Facts about Korea

External links

{{Asia topic, List of cities in