Special cities of North Korea

Special cities () are one of the first-level administrative divisions within North Korea. There are four special cities in North Korea.

Position in hierarchy and types Special cities are the higher-ranked administrative divisions in North Korea. There are three kinds of special cities in North Korea.

TypeHangulHanjaMcCune–ReischauerCity namesNumber of citiesDirect-administered citychikhalsiPyongyang1Special cityt'ŭkpyŏlsiRason, Nampo, Kaesong3Special-level cityt'ŭkkŭpsi None 0

The first level cities have equal status to the provinces.

List of special cities NameChosŏn'gŭlHanchaTypeISOPopulationArea(km2)Density(/km2)CapitalRegionProvincerelatedYear ofassignmentPyongyangDirectly administered cityKP-013,255,2883,1941,019Chung-guyokKwansoSouth Pyongan1946RasonSpecial cityKP-13205,000746275Rajin-guyokKwanbukNorth Hamgyong2010NampoSpecial cityKP-??366,815829442Waudo-guyokKwansoSouth Pyongan2011KaesongSpecial-level citynone308,4401,309235 HaesoNorth Hwanghae2019

Note: Pyongyang is classified as a capital 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 coming from South Korea, refer the city as a special city; however, these are old sources. Moreover, South Korea has corrected the city as a directly governed city, according to a South Korean newspaper in 1994. The official name of Pyongyang would be "Pyongyang-si" in the Republic of Korea, which officially claims to represent the entire peninsula.

List of defunct special cities Division nameChosŏn'gŭlHanchaProvince absorbed intoAdministered YearsChongjinNorth Hamgyong1960–1967, 1977–1985HamhungSouth Hamgyong1960–1967

Special cities of North Korea

Bron en licentie