"Paternity Leave Among Male Civil Servants Tops 10,000 for the First Time, Surpassing Women"

[Financial News] Last year, the number of male national civil servants who took parental leave exceeded the number of female national civil servants for the first time. The number of female Grade 3 civil servants, who are considered candidates for senior posts, also surpassed 200 for the first time.
According to the "2025 Personnel Statistics for National Civil Servants in the Executive Branch" released by the Ministry of Personnel Management on the 11th, a total of 19,105 national civil servants took parental leave last year. Of them, 10,704 were men, accounting for 56.0% of the total. Female parental leave users numbered 8,401. It was the first time since the parental leave system was introduced in 1994 that male users outnumbered female users.
The use of parental leave by male national civil servants has steadily increased over the past decade. In 2016, 1,528 men took leave, or 18.9% of the total. The figure rose to 2,652 in 2018, 4,483 in 2020, and 6,524 in 2022, before topping 10,000 last year. That is roughly seven times higher than 10 years ago. Over the same period, the number of female parental leave users increased by 1,836, from 6,565 to 8,401.
Women accounted for 49.0% of national civil servants. Of the 764,336 national civil servants in the Executive branch last year, 374,748 were women. The share of female national civil servants exceeded 50% in 2017, but fell to 47.9% after firefighters, who have a higher male share, were converted to national positions in 2020. Since then, the figure has risen gradually each year, reaching 49.0% last year.


Female senior civil servants numbered 210 out of 1,469, or 14.3% of the total. That followed 201 in 2024, marking the second straight year above 200. Female Grade 3 civil servants, who can be seen as part of the senior-civil-servant candidate pool, numbered 205 out of 913, or 22.5%. It was the first time the number of female Grade 3 civil servants exceeded 200.
The total number of national civil servants rose by 872 from a year earlier. General civil servants increased by 1,447 to 183,778. Police personnel rose by 653 to 144,547, and firefighters increased by 252 to 67,071.
By contrast, educational officials fell by 1,449 from the previous year to 364,106. The ministry said the decline was due to cuts in teacher quotas amid a drop in the school-age population at kindergartens, elementary schools, and middle schools.
Voluntary resignations, including honorary retirement, totaled 13,651 last year. That was down 3,641 from 17,292 in 2024. The share of voluntary resignations among all departures fell from 59.0% in 2024 to 50.6% last year.
Kim Seong-hoon, vice minister of the Ministry of Personnel Management, said, "Personnel statistics are the foundation for accurately assessing the government’s personnel management and for setting personnel policy. We will continue to promote scientific personnel innovation based on objective statistics and data."

spring@fnnews.com Lee Bo-mi Reporter