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.
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.
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".
