For the first time, the cumulative number of licensed male nurses in Korea has exceeded 40,000.
On the 13th, according to the Korean Nursing Association (KNA) and the Korea Health Personnel Licensing Examination Institute, 4,437 men passed the 66th national nurse licensing exam for 2026. They made up 17.7% of all those who passed. As a result, the number of male nurses holding licenses in Korea totaled 44,742.
It took 64 years to reach 40,000 since the first male nurse qualified in Korea in 1962. The increase accelerated sharply over the past 20 years.
As recently as 2004, only 121 men passed annually. The figure rose to 244 in 2005, then surpassed 500 for the first time in 2009 with 617. In 2013, it reached 1,019, opening the era of "1,000 per year."
The growth grew even larger after that. Annual passers surpassed 2,000 in 2017, 3,000 in 2020, and 4,000 in 2024. The cumulative number of license holders reached 10,000 in 2016 and exceeded 40,000 a decade later. That is a fourfold increase in 10 years.
The share of male passers also rose steadily. The proportion, which was only 1.1% in 2004, increased to 7.8% in 2013 and 14.7% in 2020. After topping 10% for the first time in 2017, it has hovered around 18% over the past two years.
The nursing community says changing perceptions of the profession have played a role. As the image of a "women's profession" has faded, it has taken root as a gender-neutral profession. The scope of work for male nurses is expanding across the medical field, not only in specialized departments such as emergency rooms and intensive care units but also on wards and in outpatient clinics.
An official at the Korean Nursing Association (KNA) said, "The staffing structure at medical sites is becoming more diverse," and noted, "Institutional support is needed to help male nurses settle stably in the field."