This article describes the present-day administrative divisions (Haengjeong guyeok (행정 구역; 行政區域) in Korean) of North and South Korea. For historical information, please see the articles Provinces of Korea and Special cities of Korea.
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In South Korea, the principal administrative divisions are: Teukbyeolsi, Gwangyeoksi (formerly Jikhalsi), Do, Si, Gun, Gu, Eup, Myeon, and Dong, as explained below.
(Note on translation: Korean does not normally differentiate between singular and plural; thus, all italicized terms below should be treated as plural words. The English translations, however, are given in the singular.)
At the national level, South Korea is divided into Teukbyeolsi (특별시; 特別市; "Special city"), Gwangyeoksi (광역시; 廣域市; "Metropolitan city"), and Do (도; 道; "Province"). Seoul--the capital, largest city, and oldest self-governing city--is the only Teukbyeolsi. The next 6 largest cities are self-governing Gwangyeoksi. Before 1995, all Gwangyeoksi except Ulsan (the smallest, which was not yet self-governing) were called Jikhalsi (직할시; 直轄市; "Directly Controlled City"). All smaller cities and rural areas are grouped into nine Do. (See Special cities of Korea and Provinces of Korea)
Do are divided into Si (시; 市; "City") and Gun (군; 郡; "County"). Teukbyeolsi, Gwangyeoksi, and some large Si (e.g., Suwon, Cheongju, and Jeonju) are divided into Gu (구; 區; "District"), which are roughly equivalent to the boroughs of London or the arrondissements of Paris. Gu and smaller Si are divided into Dong (동; 洞), which are basically individual neighbourhoods.
Gun are a rural division of Do, but some Gwangyeoksi (namely, Busan, Daegu, Incheon, and Ulsan) also have Gun in their rural outskirts. Each Gun has one Eup (읍; 邑; "Town")--its county seat--and several Myeon (면; 面), which are rural areas consisting of small towns and villages.
As of 2003, North Korea consists of 9 Provinces (Do, singular and plural; 도; 道) 3 Directly Governed [Self-Governing] Cities (Chik'alshi, singular and plural; 직할시; 直轄市), and several other regions, as listed below. (Names are romanized according to the McCune-Reischauer system as officially used in North Korea; the editor was also guided by the spellings used on the 2003 National Geographic map of Korea).
Classification
North Korea
Ch'ŏngjin City (청진시; 淸津市) used to be a self-governing city, but is now part of North Hamgyŏng Province. The source for this section is located at Chosun Ilbo's http://nk.chosun.com/map/map.html?ACT=geo_01 page (but is only in Korean).
South Korea