
Incheon was first known as ‘Michuhol’
Incheon emerged as an administrative district known as ‘Marsoholhyeon’ during the reign of King Jangsu of Goguryeo (475 AD). After Shilla united the three kingdoms, the district was renamed as ‘Soseonghyeon’ using Chinese characters during the reign of King Gyeongdeok of Shilla.
During the reign of King Sukjong of Goryeo (1095~1105 AD), the district was renamed and elevated as ‘Gyeongwongun’ because it was the birthplace of the King’s mother. Later on, during the reign of King Injong of Goryeo (1122~1146 AD), the district was elevated once more into ‘Inju’ since it was the birthplace of Queen Sundeok. ‘Inju’ was almost razed to the ground after an unsuccessful rebellion by Lee Ja-kyum however it was returned to ‘Gyeongwonbu’ during the 2nd year of King Gongyang of Goryeo (1390 AD).
The district was restored because it was the so-called ‘Childae Eohyang (the birthplace of seven generations of Kings)’, a region intimately related to seven generations of Kings from King Munjong to King Injong of Goryeo. Once the Joseon Dynasty was established, ‘Gyeongwonbu’ was reorganized as ‘Inju’ once again. However during in the 13th year of King Taejong of Joseon, the royal court ordered every ‘gun’ and ‘hyeon’ (two county level districts) below the ‘dohobu’ administrative level with the word ‘ju’ in their names to incorporate either the word ‘san (mountain)’ or ‘cheon (river)’. Hence, ‘Inju’ became ‘Incheon’ which remains the name for the district to this day. Incheon has chosen the very day the district was renamed as Incheon (October 15, 1413) as ‘Incheon Citizens Day’.

October 15, 1413 Renamed from 「Inju」 to 「Incheon-gun」 during the 13th year of King Taejong of Joseon. | |
1883. 10 ‘myeon (suburb level administrative districts)’ districts including ‘Bunae’, ‘Meonugeum’, ‘Juan’, ‘Namchon’, ‘Jodong’, ‘Shinhyeon’, ‘Hwangdeungcheon’, ‘Jeonban’, ‘Yipo’, and ‘Daso’ integrated into Incheon when Joseon opened up to foreigners. May 23, 1895 Incheon-bu established as the ‘Buje’ system was implemented. |
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April 1, 1914 Parts of Incheon-bu and Bupyeong-gun integrated to establish Bucheon-gun September 1, 1914 Wolmido Island incorporated into Incheon-bu October 1, 1936 Parts of Daju-myeon and Munhak-myeon in Bucheon-gun incorporated into Incheon-bu. |
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April 1, 1940 4 myeon districts including Munhak, Namdong, Bunae, and Seogot in Bucheon-gun integrated into Incheon-bu. August 15, 1949 Renamed from Incheon-bu to Incheon-si after the enactment of the Local Government Act. |
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January 1, 1963 Jakyakdo Island in Bucheon-gun incorporated into Incheon-si.
January 1, 1968 4 ‘gu (suburb level administrative districts)’ districts established (Jung-gu, Nam-gu, Dong-gu, and Buk-gu) as the ‘Guje’ system was implemented.
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July 1, 1973 Wolmido Island in Dong-gu incorporated into Jung-gu. | |
July 1, 1981 Separated from Gyeonggi Province and elevated into a ‘Directly Governed City’ by the central government.
January 1, 1988 2 gu districts established 《6 gu districts, 94 dong districts》.
January 1, 1989 3 myeon districts from Gyeonggi Province integrated into Incheon Directly Governed City.
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January 1, 1995 Renamed from Incheon Directly Governed City to Incheon Metropolitan City.
March 1, 19952 autonomous districts established.
March 1, 1995 Realignment of City and Province borders.
October 10 ~ November 10, 1998 Merger of small dong districts (reduced to 1 eup districts, 19 myeon districts, 116 dong districts).
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December 28, 2001 Geomdan-dong in Seo-gu subdivided into Geomdan 1-dong and Geomdan 2-dong.
March 1, 2003 Ongnyeon-dong in Yeonsu-gu subdivided into Ongnyeon 1-dong and Ongnyeon 2-dong. Gyesan 3-dong in Gyeyang-gu subdivided into Gyesan 3-dong and Gyesan 4-dong.
August 12, 2005 Geomdan 1-dong and Geomdan 2-dong in Seo-gu subdivided into Geomdan 1-dong, Geomdan 2-dong, and Geomdan 3-dong.
December 30, 2005 Samsan-dong in Bupyeong-gu subdivided into Samsan 1-dong and Samsan 2-dong. September 1, 2006 Geomdan 1-dong in Seo-gu subdivided into Geomdan 1-dong and Geomdan 4-dong. November 26, 2006 Realignment of jurisdiction between Jung-gu and Dong-gu.
January 1, 2007 Dongchun 2-dong in Yeonsu-gu subdivided into Dongchun 2-dong and Songdo-dong.
February 1, 2009 Merger of small dong districts in Nam-gu.
July 20, 2009 Nonhyeongojan-dong in Namdong-gu subdivided into Nonhyeon-dong and Nonhyeongojan-dong.
June 10, 2010 Cheongna-dong established in Seo-gu.
May 20, 2011 Nonhyeon-dong in Namdong-gu renamed as Nonhyeon 1-dong.
Nonhyeongojan-dong subdivided into Nonhyeon 2-dong and Nonhyeongojan-dong.
January 1, 2012 Songdo-dong in Yeonsu-gu subdivided into Songdo 1-dong and Songdo 2-dong.
Yeongjong-dong in Jung-gu subdivided into Yeongjong-dong and Unseo-dong.
(2 gun districts, 8 gu districts, 1 eup district, 19 myeon districts, and 125 dong districts) |