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<P>Many of these words are only used in combinations, to form the names of
localities in an address, and often they need no translation. Thus for example
you have °æ»ó³²-µµ (South Gyeongsang Province) and that contains a number of
cities / municipalities (½Ã) for example ÁøÁֽà Jinju-shi, but except when writing
the address, you do not usually use the -si ending. It is simply Chinju. </P>
<P> </P>
<P>When a locality is not yet sufficiently populous to be administered as a
separate city, it is designated as a -±º (-gun) and confusion arises because
quite often a -gun expands and becomes a -si. A city is governed by an
elected ½ÃÀå (mayor) while a -gun is governed by an appointed ±º¼ö. Each -gun
is divided into a number of districts / precincts with names ending in -¸é
(-myeon), but the main focus of population and business in a gun is called by a
name ending in -À¾ (-eup), it can be translated as town / township, and
that area is also known as an À¾³» (town-center), but it is not subdivided. Each
myeon / precinct is usually composed of a number of smaller areas with names
ending in -¸® (-ri locality?) that have no separate administrative existence. The
myeon, like a dong in a town, has its own myeon office and its local head
(¸éÀå).</P>
<P> </P>
<P>By contrast, the main divisions within the built-up parts of smaller cities
(-si) have names ending in -µ¿ (-dong) and this is the same word as µ¿³»
(neighborhood) though µ¿³× is more common. Originally the word means
'village' and is a significant administrative unit, each -dong having its own
dongsamuso but the English word 'village does not correspond to an urban
division, so probably 'local or precinct office' would be the best (the latter a
rather American) term, but in fact one always calls it the 'dong office'. In the
rural areas of Korea, it is quite common to find a number of more rural
districts still termed -myeon included within the boundaries of a -si. You do
not mention the ultimate urban subdivisions of each dong into -¹Ý and -Åë
that I would not even think of translating, in theory they still form part of
complete addresses, though they seem to be on the wane.</P>
<P> </P>
<P>The second reference to a -do presumably refers to its other meaning of
'island' in place names (some islands are no longer islands). Jeju-do is
correctly translated as 'Jeju Province' (it being the only island large enough
to be its own province) but most of the time people forget this.</P>
<P> </P>
<P>The height of confusion comes with Ganghwa Island, which is a separate -gun
but administered by the city of Incheon, divided, as it was before its
incorporation, into a network of -myeon, each of which is a patchwork of
tiny -ri localities.</P>
<P> </P>
<P>When a town / city is large enough, it may be divided into a number of larger
divisions known as -gu (ward / borough / district) each with its own
administration, housed in a gucheong (ward-office) and covering a number of
-dongs. The same word -gu is used for an electoral precinct.</P>
<P> </P>
<P>Guyeok is not used in place names, or administration, it simply refers to any
kind of specified zone or district.</P>
<P> </P>
<P>The full administrative name and proper address name for Seoul is ¼¿ïƯº°½Ã
(Seoul special city) for fairly obvious reasons, but most people just write
'Seoul' or 'Seoul-si' on envelopes. Busan, Daegu, Incheon, Daejeon, Gwangju and
Ulsan are all autonomous -±¤¿ª½Ã (major cities) and letters addressed to them
should not include the name of any province. The other terms are no longer
current, I think.
<br></P>
<P>I hope this is clear?</P>
<P> </P>
<P>Brother Anthony</P>
<P>Sogang University (Shinsu-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul-teukpyeolsi)</P>
<P> </P>
<P>The full post-office list of such divisions can be downloaded from <A
href="http://www.koreapost.go.kr/">http://www.koreapost.go.kr/</A></P><BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<P>µµ Do-Province </P>
<P>
<BR>±º Kun-?
<BR>±¸ Ku-?
<BR>±¸¿ª Kuyok-?
<BR>
<BR>½Ã Si-City (within city-Dong, district? or neighborhood?)
<BR>±º Kun-?
<BR>µµ Do-?
<BR>À¾ Eup-?
<BR>¸é Myeon-?
<BR>ÀÌ Ri/Ni-?
<BR>
<BR>Ư±¸ Tukgu-Special Districts? (not a common)
<BR>Ư½Ã Tuksi-Special City? (Also not common)
<BR>Á÷½Ã Giksi-Directly controlled city
<BR>Á÷È° Gikhwal-?
<BR></P></BLOCKQUOTE>
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