South Korea, a typical patriarchy society with domineering father and husband, is undergoing seismic changes with increasing swaps in the roles of traditional husbands and wives amid higher female participation in economic activities and fast aging.

According to data released by Statistics Korea on Wednesday, the so-called house husbands, or adult male staying at home to become responsible for everyday duties of childcare and housekeeping, reached 170,000 last year, the highest since the data has traced from 2003. In 2003, such men totaled 106,000.

In contrast, the number of housewives fell to 6,945,000 last year from previous peak of 7,413,000 in 2014.

Stay-at-home fathers surged as a part of the aging society phenomenon and increasing females acting the role as breadwinner, said an official from the office.

By Lee Yu-sup and Lee Ha-yeon

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