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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). 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; ???; ???) 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 romanization; now spelled Jikhalsi in the Revised Romanization of Korean).
In the following tables, "Year of Split" shows when the city split from the province it was located in.
North Korea
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
Sources
The sources for this section are Chosun Ilbo's pages ???? ?? ("Haengjeong Guyeok Hyeonhwang") and ???? ?? ?? ("Haengjeong Guyeok Gaepyeon Ilji") (in Korean only; updated 2004).
South Korea
Notes
[] Seoul
- There is no hanja for "Seoul," but in Chinese, it is written by its Joseon Dynasty 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
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