This study uses event history analysis to explore the relationship between women’s employment and motherhoodentry in the socioeconomic and institutional context of South Korea. Data used for analysis come from waves 1to 10 of the Korea Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS) collected between 1998 and 2007. The study shows thatmotherhood entry declines during the study period, particularly from the 1990s onward, with marriagepostponement and decline arguably contributing to this downtrend. Women who leave the labour market aremore likely to become mothers than working women and women with no employment experience. Labourmarket withdrawal is a signal of family formation and extension. However, this practice has been challenged inrecent years, and staying at work up to and during pregnancy has gained prevalence. Among wage earners,women employed in the public sector are more likely than others to become a mother, underlying the importanceof employment stability for motherhood entry in Korea. The fertility behaviour of private-sector employeesappears to be sensitive to changes in the business cycle.