Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
hills outside Yongin, Gyeonggi-do
South Korea is divided into nine provinces (
do
), one of which, Jeju-do, has special
autonomous status. While provinces have directly elected their own governors since 1995,
the power of provincial administrations remains limited, and most major policies are imple-
mented at the national level. Provinces are further subdivided into counties (
gun
) and cities
(
si
) as well as villages or townships. Distinct from the provinces, six major cities of more
than one million people—Incheon, Busan, Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju, and Ulsan—have
been designated
gwangyeoksi
or metropolitan cities, meaning they are administered separ-
ately from the provinces around them. Towering above them all is the capital, Seoul, the
only place in the country to bear the
teukbyeolsi
or special city title, which effectively elev-
ates it to provincial level. Major cities are further split into districts (
gu
) which are made up
of smaller neighborhoods (
dong
).
The country's four distinct seasons are a great source of pride to South Koreans, and while
it is true that they can be differentiated easily, some last a lot longer than others. South