Major South Korean Cities Explained

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Major Korean city Geography is nothing like normal Canadian or American Geography. You'll see soon. See, some major Korean cities have a huge population/too large enough to be governed by a provincial government. So they are made, excluding Seoul and Sejong, "광역시", or Gwangyuk-Sis (Si=City). It used to be called 직할시 (Jikhal-Si). There are 6 in total, and are indeed provincial-level. Those 6 cities are:

Gwangju Gwankyuk-Si (Not to be confused with Gwangju in Gyungi Province) Busan, Ulsan, Daegu, Daejeon, and Incheon. 

Gwangju: 1. Busan: 2. Ulsan: 3. Daegu: 4. Daejeon: 5. Incheon: 6.

Dialect Map of South Korea, one of the most homogeneous nations of the world. (Hint about another post!)

Usually, these major cities are first considered to be a "광역시" when its population goes over a million. Some people thought of unifying cities together in the most populous province of Gyungi (In which surrounds Seoul), as there are a lot of small cities in the Seoul Metropolitan Area. The idea, however, was turned away by many people, as unifying those small cities would take away huge parts of the Seoul Metropolitan Area and creating another, which would not solve the terrible overpopulation in the area.

Korean politicians usually consider making some cities into these provincial-level cities when they surpass the population of 1 million.

When cities are made into these "광역시"s, they usually take a nearby county with them. Now let's see what the major cities are made out of.

Busan: Busan City+ Gijang County
Ulsan: Ulsan City + Ulju County
Gwangju: Gwangju City + Songjong City + Gwangsan County
Daejeon: Daejeon City + Daeduk County
Incheon: Incheon City + Ganghwa County + Ongjin County + Gumdan District, Gimpo City (At the time Gimpo County)
Daegu: Daegu City + Dalsung County

The 6 Major cities together make up a quarter of Korea's population of 50.22 million in 2013.

One thing people might be curious about, is that if, IF South Korea's population reached 81 million (1 million for every municipality), is every single city going to be a provincial-level city? Or will the provincial-level city law be banished and they become provinces? We would never know today, but maybe in the future, we will.

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