Over Half of Government Workers Are Women

Women account for more than 50 percent of all government workers for the first time ever.

Kim Pan-suk of the Ministry of Personnel Management at a press conference on Thursday announced that the proportion of women in the public sector stands at 50.2 percent.

The figures do not include workers hired by some local governments and courts of justice. As of last year, the total number of public-sector workers including teachers and police officers stood at some 650,000.

The ministry announces the statistics at the end of June every year.

The proportion of women has risen steadily since reaching 48.1 percent in 2013. An official at the ministry said, "This is a natural development that stems from the rising participation of women in the workforce."

Women favor government jobs due to benefits like paid maternity leave and job security.

But among workers directly employed by regional governments, women only account for 35 percent, which brings the combined proportion down to 45 percent.