Province-level cities are one of the first-level administrative divisions within South Korea. There are three types: special, metropolitan, and special self-governing.

Province-level cities have equal status to provinces in the South Korean administrative scheme, and are among the highest-ranked administrative divisions of South Korea. There are three kinds of first-level city in South Korea.

• Seoul was designated a "special free city" (teukbyeol jayusi; 특별자유시; 特別自由市) separate from Gyeonggi Province on August 15, 1946; it became a "special city" on August 15, 1949.^[1]
• Metropolitan cities were called "direct control (meaning directly-administered) city" (jikhalsi; 직할시; 直轄市) before 1995.

In South Korean special city and metropolitan cities, the mayor is the highest-ranking official in charge. The mayor is directly elected by the people registered in the city for a duration of four years (e.g., the mayor of Seoul).

Metropolitan functions such as water supply and public transport are integrated into the sole prefecture other than scattered to each municipality.

Seoul

Busan

Daegu

Incheon

Gwangju

Daejeon

Ulsan

Sejong

Special cites in South Korea

Notes: There are no Hanja for "Seoul"; in Chinese, it is written as 首爾/首尔 (pinyin: Shǒu'ěr), a transcription based on the pronunciation of "Seoul". As a suffix, the character Gyeong (경/京) is used, which means "capital".

• Administrative divisions of South Korea
• Cities of South Korea
• List of cities in South Korea
• Provinces of South Korea
• Special cities of North Korea