Women held roughly half of governmental positions in South Korea as of last year, mostly concentrated in educational services.

According to data released by the Ministry of Personnel Management this week, of the nation’s 650,000 civil servants at the end of 2016, 323,000, or 49.8 percent, were women. The proportion of female civil servants has been on a steady increase in recent years, moving from 48.1 percent in 2013 to 49 percent in 2014 and 49.4 percent in 2015. 

Education services showed the highest percentage of female workers, extending to 70.5 percent. Of the 323,000 female civil servants, 253,000, or 78 percent, were teachers or education officers.

Women held 34.6 percent of general administrative positions and 32.9 percent of diplomatic service jobs. Among state prosecutors, 28.8 percent were women, while women accounted for just over 1 in 10 of the police force.