This study was carried out to characterize sources of atmospheric total suspended particulates (TSP) in urban and sub--urban areas of metropolitan taegu. The sources were tentatively identified by a multivariate technique, i.e. principal component analysis (PCA), and the source contributions to the atmospheric concentrations of TSP were further estimated by stepwise multiple regression analysis. A total of 5 sources was identified in the urban area of Taegu (soil dust resuspension, fuel combustion, secondary aerosol, traffic related aerosol, and refuge burning), while 4 sources were found to be significant in the sub--urban area as following: fuel combustion/secondary aerosol, soil dust resuspension, traffic related aerosol, and wood/agricultural burning. The largest contributor to the atmospheric TSP appeared to be the soil dust resuspension in both areas. The source apportionment of the extractable organic matter (EOM) was also carried out for the Taegu data. The EOM was determined with respect to the solvent polarity, i.e. cyclohexane (non-polar), dichloromethane (semi--polar), and acetone (polar). In addition, the source profiles for the TSP in Taegu area were estimated using a PCA-based algorithm, and the validity was evaluated tentatively by comparing the data in the literature.