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Special cities of Korea
 
 
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In North
North Korea

North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , is a state in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula....
 and South Korea
South Korea

South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea , ), often referred to as Korea and the "names of Korea#Revival of the names", is a Semi-presidential system republic in East Asia, located in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula....
, Special Cities, Metropolitan Cities, and Directly Governed Cities are cities that have a status equivalent to that of Provinces
Provinces of Korea

This article describes the historical evolution of Korea's provinces . For detailed information on current administrative divisions, please see Administrative divisions of North Korea and Administrative divisions of South Korea....
 (Do). Hence, like the provinces, such cities are under the direct administration of the central government.

As of 2004, there are two Directly Governed Cities (Chikhalsi; ???; ???) and three other special provincial-level administrative regions in North Korea; and one Special City (Teukbyeolsi; ???
Hangul

Hangul is the native alphabet of the Korean language, as distinguished from the logogram Sino-Korean vocabulary hanja system. It was created in the mid-fifteenth century, and is now the official writing system of both North Korea and South Korea, being co-official in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture of China....
; ???
Hanja

Hanja is the Korean language name for Chinese characters. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese language and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation....
) and six Metropolitan Cities (Gwangyeoksi; ???; ???) in South Korea.






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In North
North Korea

North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , is a state in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula....
 and South Korea
South Korea

South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea , ), often referred to as Korea and the "names of Korea#Revival of the names", is a Semi-presidential system republic in East Asia, located in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula....
, Special Cities, Metropolitan Cities, and Directly Governed Cities are cities that have a status equivalent to that of Provinces
Provinces of Korea

This article describes the historical evolution of Korea's provinces . For detailed information on current administrative divisions, please see Administrative divisions of North Korea and Administrative divisions of South Korea....
 (Do). Hence, like the provinces, such cities are under the direct administration of the central government.

As of 2004, there are two Directly Governed Cities (Chikhalsi; ???; ???) and three other special provincial-level administrative regions in North Korea; and one Special City (Teukbyeolsi; ???
Hangul

Hangul is the native alphabet of the Korean language, as distinguished from the logogram Sino-Korean vocabulary hanja system. It was created in the mid-fifteenth century, and is now the official writing system of both North Korea and South Korea, being co-official in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture of China....
; ???
Hanja

Hanja is the Korean language name for Chinese characters. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese language and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation....
) and six Metropolitan Cities (Gwangyeoksi; ???; ???) in South Korea. Before 1995, the five largest Gwangyeoksi in South Korea were classified as Chik'alshi (i.e. Chikhalsi in McCune-Reischauer
McCune-Reischauer

McCune-Reischauer romanization is one of the two most widely used Korean language romanization systems, along with the Revised Romanization of Korean, which replaced McCune-Reischauer as the official romanization system in South Korea in 2000....
 romanization; now spelled Jikhalsi in the Revised Romanization of Korean
Revised Romanization of Korean

The Revised Romanization of Korean is the official Korean language romanization system in South Korea, used as a replacement for the 1984 McCune-Reischauer?based romanization system....
).

In the following tables, "Year of Split" shows when the city split from the province it was located in.

North Korea















































Table 1: Directly Governed Cities and Special Administrative Regions of North Korea
North Korea

North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , is a state in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula....


Note: North Korea uses a variant of the McCune-Reischauer
McCune-Reischauer

McCune-Reischauer romanization is one of the two most widely used Korean language romanization systems, along with the Revised Romanization of Korean, which replaced McCune-Reischauer as the official romanization system in South Korea in 2000....
 romanization.
Romanization
Romanization

In linguistics, romanization is the representation of a written word or spoken speech with the Latin alphabet, or a system for doing so, where the original word or language uses a different writing system ....
 Han'gul
Hangul

Hangul is the native alphabet of the Korean language, as distinguished from the logogram Sino-Korean vocabulary hanja system. It was created in the mid-fifteenth century, and is now the official writing system of both North Korea and South Korea, being co-official in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture of China....
 Hanja
Hanja

Hanja is the Korean language name for Chinese characters. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese language and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation....
 Year of Split Province split from
P'yongyang Chikhalsi
Pyongyang

Pyongyang is the Capital and largest city of North Korea, located on the Taedong River, at . According to preliminary results from the 2008 population census, it has a population of 3,255,388....
 		 ?? ??? ????? 1946 S. P'yongan
South Pyongan

South P'yongan is a Administrative divisions of North Korea of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the southern half of the former Pyongan Province, remained a province of Korea until 1945, then became a province of North Korea....
Rason (Rajin-Sonbong) Chikhalsi
Rason

Rason is a Special cities of Korea#North Korea in North Korea, which borders with Jilin of People's Republic of China and Primorsky Krai of Russia....
 ?? (??-??) ??? ?? (??-??) ??? 1993 N. Hamgyong
North Hamgyong

North Hamgyong is a Administrative divisions of North Korea of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Hamgyong Province....
Sinuiju T'ukpyol Haengjonggu
Sinuiju Special Administrative Region

Sinuiju Special Administrative Region was a proposed Special cities of Korea#North Korea of North Korea, on the border with People's Republic of China....

(Sinuiju Special Administrative Region)		 ??? ?? ??? ???????? 2002 N. P'yongan
North Pyongan

North P'yongan is a Administrative divisions of North Korea of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Pyongan Province, remained a province of Korea until 1945, then became a province of North Korea....
Kaesong Kong'op Chigu
Kaesong Industrial Region

Kaesong Industrial Region is a Administrative divisions of North Korea industrial region of North Korea. It was formed in 2002 from part of Kaesong....

(Kaesong Industrial Region)		 ?? ?? ?? ?????? 2002 Formerly the North Korean section of Kyonggi Province
Kumgangsan Kwan'gwang Chigu
Kumgangsan Tourist Region

Kumgangsan Tourist Region is a Special cities of Korea#North Korea of North Korea. It was established in 2002 to handle South Korean tourist traffic to Kumgangsan ....

(Kumgang-san Tourist Region)		 ??? ?? ?? ??????? 2002 Kangwon
Kangwon-do (North Korea)

Kangwon is a Administrative divisions of North Korea of North Korea, with its capital at Wonsan. Before the division of Korea in 1945, Kangwon and its South Korean neighbour Gangwon-do formed a single province that excluded Wonsan....
  • Note:
The city is classified as a Directly Governed City (Chikhalsi), not a Special City as Seoul in South Korea. In fact, the North Korean national newspaper and broadcasting say "Pyongyang Chikhalsi". Some sources, most of them come from South Korea, refer the city as a Special City; however these are the old sources. Moreover, South Korea has corrected the city as a Directly Governed City, according to a South Korean newspaper in 1994. Also note that the official name of Pyongyang would be "Pyongyang-si" in the Republic of Korea, which officially claims to represent the entire peninsula.

Former Special cities of North Korea




































Romanization
Romanization

In linguistics, romanization is the representation of a written word or spoken speech with the Latin alphabet, or a system for doing so, where the original word or language uses a different writing system ....
 Han'gul
Hangul

Hangul is the native alphabet of the Korean language, as distinguished from the logogram Sino-Korean vocabulary hanja system. It was created in the mid-fifteenth century, and is now the official writing system of both North Korea and South Korea, being co-official in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture of China....
 Hanja
Hanja

Hanja is the Korean language name for Chinese characters. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese language and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation....
 Administered Years Province absorb into
Ch'ongjin
Chongjin

Ch'ongjin , North Korea's third largest city. It is also the capital of the North Hamgyong Province in North Korea. From 1960 to 1967 and again from 1977 to 1985, Ch'ongjin was administered separately from North Hamgyong as a Special cities of Korea#North Korea ....
 - (formerly a Chikhalsi)		 ??? ??? 1960-1967, 1977-1985 North Hamgyong
North Hamgyong

North Hamgyong is a Administrative divisions of North Korea of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Hamgyong Province....
Hamhung
Hamhung

Hamhung is North Korea's second largest Cities of North Korea, and the capital of South Hamgyong Province. In late 2005, nearby Hungnam was made a ward within Hamhung-si....
 - (formerly a Chikhalsi)		 ??? ??? 1960-1967 South Hamgyong
South Hamgyong

South Hamgyong is a Administrative divisions of North Korea of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the southern half of the former Hamgyong Province, remained a province of Korea until 1945, then became a province of North Korea....
Kaesong
Kaesong

Kaesong is a city in North Hwanghae Province, southern North Korea , a former Special cities of Korea#North Korea, and the capital of Korea during the Goryeo....
 - (formerly a Chikhalsi)		 ??? ??? 1951-1955 North Hwanghae
North Hwanghae

North Hwanghae is a Administrative divisions of North Korea of North Korea. The province was formed in 1954 when the former Hwanghae Province was split into North and South Hwanghae....
Namp'o
Nampo

Namp'o is a city and seaport in South Pyongan Province, North Korea. It was a provincial-level Special cities of Korea from 1980 to 2004, when it was designated a "Special City" and made a part of South P'yongan....
 - (formerly a Chikhalsi)		 ??? ??? 1980-2004 South P'yong'an
South Pyongan

South P'yongan is a Administrative divisions of North Korea of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the southern half of the former Pyongan Province, remained a province of Korea until 1945, then became a province of North Korea....


Sources


The sources for this section are Chosun Ilbo's pages and (in Korean only; updated 2004).

South Korea


Table 2: Special Cities and Metropolitan Cities of South Korea
South Korea

South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea , ), often referred to as Korea and the "names of Korea#Revival of the names", is a Semi-presidential system republic in East Asia, located in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula....


Note: South Korea uses the Revised Romanisation of Korean.
Romanization
Romanization

In linguistics, romanization is the representation of a written word or spoken speech with the Latin alphabet, or a system for doing so, where the original word or language uses a different writing system ....
 Hangul
Hangul

Hangul is the native alphabet of the Korean language, as distinguished from the logogram Sino-Korean vocabulary hanja system. It was created in the mid-fifteenth century, and is now the official writing system of both North Korea and South Korea, being co-official in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture of China....
 Hanja
Hanja

Hanja is the Korean language name for Chinese characters. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese language and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation....
 Year of Split Province split from
Seoul Teukbyeolsi
Seoul

Seoul is the Capital and largest city of South Korea. With a population of over 10 million, It is one of the world's List of cities proper by population.The Seoul National Capital Area - which includes the major port city of Incheon and satellite towns in Gyeonggi-do, has 24.5 million inhabitants and is the world's second largest List of me...
 ?? ??? See note below December, 1067 Yangju (then Namgyeong)
Busan Gwangyeoksi
Busan

Busan Metropolitan City, also known as Pusan is the largest seaport city in South Korea. Busan has a population of 3.65 million and is South Korea's second largest metropolis, after Seoul....
 ?? ??? ????? January 1, 1963 S. Gyeongsang
Daegu Gwangyeoksi
Daegu

Daegu , also spelled Taegu , officially called Daegu Metropolitan City, is the fourth largest city in South Korea after Seoul, Busan, and Incheon....
 ?? ??? ????? July 1, 1981 N. Gyeongsang
Incheon Gwangyeoksi
Incheon

Incheon is a Special cities of Korea and a major seaport on the west coast of South Korea, near Seoul.Human settlement at the location goes back to the Neolithic....
 ?? ??? ????? July 1, 1981 Gyeonggi
Gwangju Gwangyeoksi
Gwangju

Gwangju Metropolitan City is the sixth largest city in South Korea. It is a designated Special cities of Korea under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister....
 ?? ??? ????? November 1, 1986 S. Jeolla
Daejeon Gwangyeoksi
Daejeon

Daejeon is the capital city of Chungcheongnamdo Province, located in the center of South Korea. It is the fifth largest city in South Korea, with a population of 1,442,856 at the end of 2005....
 ?? ??? ????? January 1, 1989 S. Chungcheong
Ulsan Gwangyeoksi
Ulsan

Ulsan is a Special cities of Korea in the south-east of South Korea, facing the Sea of Japan . It is located 70km north of Busan.The city forms the heart of the country's industrial area called the Ulsan Industrial District....
 ?? ??? ????? July 15, 1997 S. Gyeongsang


Seoul
  • There is no hanja for "Seoul," but in Chinese
    Chinese language

    Chinese or the Sinitic language is a language family consisting of language mutually unintelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the two branches of Sino-Tibetan languages of languages....
    , it is written by its Joseon Dynasty
    Joseon Dynasty

    Joseon , was a sovereign state founded by Taejo Taejo of Joseon, and lasted for approximately five centuries. It was founded in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo Kingdom at what is today the city of Kaesong....
     name Hanseong. The new Chinese name, ??/??, is a transcription based on the pronunciation of "Seoul". As a suffix, the character gyeong is used, which means "capital".
  • Seoul was designated a "Special Free City" (Teukbyeol Jayusi; ?? ???; ?????) separate from Gyeonggi Province on August 15, 1946; it became a "Special City" on August 15, 1949.


See also

  • Administrative divisions of North Korea
    Administrative divisions of North Korea

    The administrative divisions of North Korea are organized into three hierarchical levels. Many of the units have equivalents in the Administrative Divisions of South Korea of South Korea....
  • Administrative divisions of South Korea
    Administrative divisions of South Korea

    |||}File:520px-Provinces of South Korea Txt.PNGSouth Korea is divided into 8 provinces , 1 special autonomous province , 6 metropolitan cities , and 1 special city ....
  • List of cities in South Korea
  • List of cities in North Korea
  • List of Korea-related topics
    List of Korea-related topics

    This is a list of articles on Korea-related people, places, things, and concepts. For help on how to use this list, see the #Introduction below....