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South Korea is made up of 22 first-tier administrative divisions: 6 metropolitan cities (gwangyeoksi 광역시/廣域市), 1 special city (teukbyeolsi 특별시/特別市), 1 special self-governing city (teukbyeol-jachisi 특별자치시/特別自治市), and 14 provinces (do 도/道), including three special self-governing provinces (teukbyeol jachido 특별자치도/特別自治道) and five claimed by the ROK government.^[1][2] 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).^[3]

Official Revised Romanization of Korean spellings are used

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.^[2]

Gangwon

Seoul

Incheon

Gyeonggi

S.
Chungcheong

N.
Chungcheong

Sejong

Daejeon

N. Gyeongsang

Jeonbuk

Daegu

Ulsan

Busan

S. Gyeongsang

Gwangju

S. Jeolla

Jeju

N. Hamgyeong

S. Hamgyeong

N. Pyeongan

S. Pyeongan

Hwanghae

China

Russia

Japan

Yellow Sea

Korea Strait
(Busan Strait)

Korea Strait
(Tsushima Strait)

Sea of Japan
(East Sea)

Code	Emblem	Name	Official English name[5]	Hangul	Hanja	Population 2020 Census	Area (km2)	Population density 2022 (per km2)
KR-11		Seoul special city	Seoul	서울특별시	서울特別市	9,586,195	605.20	15,578.16
KR-26		Busan metropolitan city	Busan	부산광역시	釜山廣域市	3,349,016	770.04	4,309.46
KR-27		Daegu metropolitan city	Daegu	대구광역시	大邱廣域市	2,410,700	883.49	2,675.25
KR-28		Incheon metropolitan city	Incheon	인천광역시	仁川廣域市	2,945,454	1,062.63	2,782.40
KR-29		Gwangju metropolitan city	Gwangju	광주광역시	光州廣域市	1,477,573	501.24	2,855.02
KR-30		Daejeon metropolitan city	Daejeon	대전광역시	大田廣域市	1,488,435	539.85	2,681.14
KR-31		Ulsan metropolitan city	Ulsan	울산광역시	蔚山廣域市	1,135,423	1,057.14	1,047.01
KR-50		Sejong special self-governing city	Sejong Special Self-Governing City	세종특별자치시	世宗特別自治市	346,275	465.23	824.93
KR-41		Gyeonggi-do	Gyeonggi Province	경기도	京畿道	13,511,676	10,184	1,336.10
KR-42		Gangwon special self-governing province	Gangwon State	강원특별자치도	江原特別自治道	1,521,763	16,875	91.06
KR-43		Chungcheongbuk-do	North Chungcheong Province	충청북도	忠淸北道	1,632,088	7,433	215.34
KR-44		Chungcheongnam-do	South Chungcheong Province	충청남도	忠淸南道	2,176,636	8,204	258.08
KR-45		Jeonbuk special self-governing province	Jeonbuk State	전북특별자치도	全北特別自治道	1,802,766	8,067	219.31
KR-46		Jeollanam-do	South Jeolla Province	전라남도	全羅南道	1,788,807	12,247	147.36
KR-47		Gyeongsangbuk-do	North Gyeongsang Province	경상북도	慶尙北道	2,644,757	19,030	136.64
KR-48		Gyeongsangnam-do	South Gyeongsang Province	경상남도	慶尙南道	3,333,056	10,533	311.26
KR-49		Jeju special self-governing province	Jeju Special Self-Governing Province	제주특별자치도	濟州特別自治道	670,858	1,849	366.74

A si (시; 市, pronounced [ɕi]) 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). An administrative city does not have a city council and the mayor of the city is appointed by the provincial governor.

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 townships (myeon). Specially, the size of a "gun" is less than a US "county".

A gu (구; 區) 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).

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.

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

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.^[6] 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.^[7]

A ri (리; 里) 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.^[8]

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.

• 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

• "Local Government". Korean Culture and Information Service.
• "Seoul Mayor first among equals in South Korea local government". Citymajors.
• "South Korea Administrative Districts". CityPopulation.de.
• "ISO Subentity Codes for South Korea". GeoNames.