South Korea

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of South Korea Image File history File linksMetadata Coat_of_arms_of_South_Korea. ... Politics of South Korea takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. ...

Sixth Republic Constitution Government President (list) No Muhyeon Prime Minister (list) Han Myeongsuk Cabinet Ministries National Assembly Supreme Court Chief Justice Elections 2002 - 2004 - 2007 Political parties Uri - GNP - DLP - DP - PFP Korean reunification Sunshine policy Divisions Human rights Foreign relations

Other countries · Politics Portal view • talk • edit

South Korea is divided into 8 provinces (do), 1 special autonomous province (teukbyeol jachido), 6 metropolitan cities (gwangyeoksi), and 1 special city (teukbyeolsi). These are further subdivided into a variety of smaller entities, including cities (si), counties (gun), districts (gu), towns (eup), townships (myeon), neighborhoods (dong) and villages (ri), as explained below. The Sixth Republic of South Korea is the countrys present-day government. ... The President is head of state of South Korea. ... The President is head of state of South Korea. ... Roh Moo-hyun (born September 1, 1946 in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang) (IPA: ) has been the President of South Korea since February 25, 2003. ... The Prime Minister of South Korea is appointed by the President with the National Assemblys approval. ... The Prime Minister of South Korea is appointed by the President with the National Assemblys approval. ... Han Myeong-Sook (born March 24, 1944) is the current Prime Minister of South Korea. ... The most influential part of the executive of the South Korean government are the ministries. ... The most influential part of the executive of the South Korean government are the ministries. ... The National Assembly (Hangul: 국회; Hanja: 國會; Revised: Gukhoe; McCune-Reischauer: Kukoe) is the parliament of South Korea. ... The Supreme Court of Korea is the highest court in South Korea. ... The Chief Justice of the Republic of Korea is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Korea. ... Elections in South Korea provides an overview of the history of South Korean elections and their results. ... The 16th South Korean Presidential Election took place in December 19, 2002. ... Legislative elections were held in the Republic of Korea (South Korea) on April 15, 2004. ... Presidential elections in South Korea are scheduled for December 2007. ... Political parties in South Korea lists political parties in South Korea. ... Uri party celebrates The Yeollin Uri Party (en: Our Open Party), generally abbreviated to Uri Party (en: Our Party), is the ruling political party in South Korea with a leftist-leaning political ideology. ... The Grand National Party is a conservative, right-wing political party in South Korea. ... The Democratic Labour Party(DLP) (Korean hangul: 민주노동당; hanja: 民主勞動黨; revised: Minju Nodong-dang; McCune-Reischauer: Minju Nodong-dang) is a political party in South Korea, established in January 2000. ... The Democratic Party (Korean hangul: 민주당; hanja: 民主黨; revised: Minju-dang; McCune-Reischauer: Minju-dang) is a political party of South Korea. ... The People First Party (국민중심당, Gukmin Jungsim-dang), is a political party in South Korea. ... Unification Flag of Korea Korean reunification is the possible future unification of North Korea and South Korea under a single government. ... The Sunshine Policy is the current South Korean doctrine towards North Korea. ... The situation of human rights in the Republic of Korea (South Korea) has changed significantly from the days of military dictatorship and reflects its status as a constitutional democracy governed by a president and a unicameral legislature. ... The foreign relations of South Korea are dominated by its relationships with its neighbors North Korea, Japan, and China, and with ally United States of America. ... Information on politics by country is available for every country, including both de jure and de facto independent states, inhabited dependent territories, as well as areas of special sovereignty. ... A province is a territorial unit, almost always a country subdivision. ...

(Note on translation: although the terms "Special City," "Metropolitan City," "Province," and "City" are commonly used on English-language government websites, the other translations ("county," "town," "district," etc.) are not official translations, and are only intended to serve as useful illustrations of each entity's meaning.)

Local government

Korean terms appear in their official Revised Romanization of Korean spelling. The Revised Romanization of Korean (Korean: 국어의 로마자 표기법; 國語의 로마字 表記法) is the official Korean language romanization system in South Korea. ...

Do ("Province"; 도; 道)

A "do" is one of the primary divisions of the country, along with "teukbyeolsi" and "gwangyeoksi." South Korea has 8 provinces: North and South Chungcheong, Gangwon, Gyeonggi, North and South Gyeongsang, North and South Jeolla; and one special autonomous province: Jeju. Each province is subdivided into cities ("si") and counties ("gun"). North Chungcheong is a province in the centre of South Korea. ... South Chungcheong is a province in the west of South Korea. ... Gangwon (Gangwon-do) is a province of South Korea, with its capital at Chuncheon. ... Gyeonggi is the most populous province in South Korea. ... North Gyeongsang is a province in eastern South Korea. ... South Gyeongsang is a province in the southeast of South Korea. ... North Jeolla is a province in the southwest of South Korea. ... South Jeolla is a province in the southwest of South Korea. ... Jeju is the smallest province of South Korea, situated on its largest island. ...

Gwangyeoksi ("Metropolitan City"; 광역시; 廣域市)

A "gwangyeoksi" is one of the primary divisions of the country, along with "teukbyeolsi" and "do." South Korea has 6 metropolitan cities: Busan, Daegu, Incheon, Gwangju, Daejeon, and Ulsan. Gwangju and Daejeon are divided into wards ("gu"); the rest are divided into both wards ("gu") and outlying counties ("gun"). Busan Metropolitan City, also known as Pusan, is the largest port city in South Korea. ... Daegu, also spelled Taegu, officially called Daegu Metropolitan City, is the 4th largest city in South Korea after Seoul, Busan, and Incheon. ... Incheon Metropolitan City is a metropolitan city and major seaport on the west coast of South Korea, near Seoul. ... This article is about Gwangju Metropolitan City in South Korea. ... Daejeon Metropolitan City is a metropolitan city in the centre of South Korea, and the capital of South Chungcheong Province. ... Ulsan, a metropolitan city in the south-east of South Korea, facing the Sea of Japan (East Sea). ...

Teukbyeolsi ("Special City"; 특별시; 特別市)

A "teukbyeolsi" is one of the primary divisions of the country, along with gwangyeoksi and do. South Korea has only one special city: Seoul. Seoul is divided into wards ("gu"). Seoul (Sŏul[1] 서울)   is the capital and largest city of South Korea (Republic of Korea). ...

Si ("City"; 시; 市)

A "si" is one of the divisions of a province, along with "gun." Cities have a population of at least 150,000; once a county ("gun") attains that population, it becomes a city. Cities with a population of over 500,000 (namely, Suwon, Cheongju, and Jeonju) are divided into wards ("gu") which are then further divided into neighbourhoods ("dong"); cities with a population of less than 500,000 do not have wards – these cities are directly divided into neighbourhoods ("dong"). Suwon (Suwon-si) is the largest city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. ... Cheongju is a city in North Chungcheong Province, South Korea, and the capital of North Chungcheong. ... Jeonju (Jeonju-si) is a city in and the capital of North Jeolla Province, South Korea. ...

Gun ("County"; 군; 郡)

A "gun" 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. Counties are divided into towns ("eup") and districts ("myeon"). Busan Metropolitan City, also known as Pusan, is the largest port city in South Korea. ... Daegu, also spelled Taegu, officially called Daegu Metropolitan City, is the 4th largest city in South Korea after Seoul, Busan, and Incheon. ... Incheon Metropolitan City is a metropolitan city and major seaport on the west coast of South Korea, near Seoul. ... Ulsan, a metropolitan city in the south-east of South Korea, facing the Sea of Japan (East Sea). ...

Gu ("District"; 구; 區)

Seoul, the metropolitan cities of Gwangju and Daejeon and the cities of Suwon, Cheongju and Jeonju are divided into "gu"s, but do not have any "gun"s, whereas the metropolitan cities of Busan, Daegu, Incheon and Ulsan are divided into "gu" and also have "gun". "Gu"s are similar to London's or New York's boroughs, and a "gu"'s government handles many of the functions that are handled by city governments in other jurisdictions. "Gu"s in Suwon, Cheongju, and Jeonju have fewer powers than those of Seoul and the metropolitan cities. "Gu"s are divided into neighbourhoods ("dong"). This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... NY redirects here. ... A borough is an administrative division used in various countries. ...

Eup ("Town"; 읍; 邑)

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"s. Towns are subdivided into villages ("ri"). In order to form an eup, the minimum population required is 20,000.

Myeon ("Township"; 면; 面)

A "myeon" is one of the divisions – along with "eup" – of a county ("gun") and some cities ("si") of fewer than 500,000 population. "myeon"s have smaller populations than "eup"s and represent the rural areas of a county or city. Myeons are subdivided into villages ("ri"). The minimum population limit is 6,000.

Dong ("Neighbourhood"; 동; 洞)

A dong is the primary division of wards (gu), and of those cities (si) which are not divided into wards. 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 dongs 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. Myeongjang is a dong in Dongnae-gu, Busan, South Korea. ...

The primary division of a dong is the tong (통; 統), but divisions at this level and below are seldom used in daily life. 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.

Ri ("Village"; 리; 里)

A "ri" is the only division of towns ("eup") and districts ("myeon"). The "ri" is the smallest level of rural government to contain any significant number of people.

History

Although the details of local administration have changed dramatically 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. Gojong (1852–1919) was the 26th king and 1st emperor of the Korean Joseon Dynasty. ... 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Future changes

In late April 2005, the governing Uri and leading opposition Hannara parties agreed to a sweeping change in the country's local administration. This reform, tentatively slated to take place in 2010, would replace the current three-tier system with a two-tier system. The existing provinces (do) and metropolitan cities (gwangyeoksi) would be eliminated. The current gu, si, and gun units would be reorganized into about 60 "metropolitan cities" with a population of roughly 1 million each. Beyond this, the details of the reform have not been decided. Opposition is likely from politicians and constituent groups who will be disadvantaged by the changes. (Sources: Korea Times [1], Korea Herald [2]). 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Uri party celebrates The Yeollin Uri Party (en: Our Open Party), generally abbreviated to Uri Party (en: Our Party), is the ruling political party in South Korea with a leftist-leaning political ideology. ... The Grand National Party is a conservative, right-wing political party in South Korea. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

See also

• ISO 3166-2:KR, ISO codes for cities and provinces in South Korea
• Administrative divisions of North Korea
• Provinces of Korea
• Special cities of Korea

The ISO 3166-2 standard for South Korea (ISO 3166-1: KR) assigns codes to 1 special city, 6 metropolitan cities, and 9 provinces. ... Administrative divisions of North Korea As of 2004, North Korea consisted of two directly-governed cities (Chikalshi; 직할시;直轄市), three special administrative regions with various designations, and nine provinces (Do, singular and plural; 도; 道). These 14 regions are, in turn, divided into a Special... This article describes the historical evolution of Koreas provinces (Do ; Hangul: 도; Hanja: 道). For detailed information on current administrative divisions, please see Administrative divisions of North Korea and Administrative divisions of South Korea. ... In North and South Korea, Special cities, Metropolitan Cities, and Directly Governed Cities are cities that have a status equivalent to that of Provinces (Do). ...

External links

• Article on South Korea local government