Along with myeon, an eup is one of the divisions of a county (gun), and of some cities (si) with a population of less than 500,000. The main town or towns in a county—or the secondary town or towns within a city's territory—are designated as eup. Towns are subdivided into villages (ri). In order to form an eup, the minimum population required is 20,000. Myeon (township) A myeon () is one of the divisions – along with eup – of a county (gun) and some cities (si) of fewer than 500,000 population. Myeons have smaller populations than eup and represent the rural areas of a county or city. Myeon are subdivided into villages (ri). The minimum population limit is 6,000. Dong (neighborhood) A dong () is the primary division of districts (gu), and of those cities (si) which are not divided into districts. The dong is the smallest level of urban government to have its own office and staff. In some cases, a single legal dong is divided into several administrative dong. Administrative dong are usually distinguished from one another by number (as in the case of Myeongjang 1-dong and Myeongjang 2-dong). In such cases, each administrative dong has its own office and staff. The primary division of a dong is the tong (), but divisions at this level and below are seldom used in daily life. Some populous dong are subdivided into ga (), which are not a separate level of government, but only exist for use in addresses. Many major thoroughfares in Seoul, Suwon, and other cities are also subdivided into ga. Ri (village) A ri () is the only division of towns (eup) and townships (myeon). The ri is the smallest level of rural government to contain any significant number of people. History Although the details of local administration have changed over time, the basic outline of the current three-tiered system was implemented under the reign of Gojong in 1895. A similar system also remains in use in North Korea. See also Administrative divisions of North Korea ISO 3166-2:KR, ISO codes for cities and provinces in South Korea List of cities in South Korea List of South Korean regions by GDP Provinces of Korea Special cities of South Korea References External links Korea, South Lists of subdivisions of South Korea