Margaret Jane Edmunds , a late American nurse who founded Korea ’ s first nursing school in 1903 , has been posthumously awarded the Order of Civil Merit by the South Korean government 70 years after her death , according to the Korean Nurses Association . Edmunds ( 1871 - 1945 ) is the founder of the Pogunyogwan Training School for Nurses , which is now the division of nursing science at Ewha Womans University in Seoul . The first Korean nurses in history ― Kim Martha and Lee Grace ― were taught by Edmunds at the school and became nurses in 1906 . Among the two , Kim was an abused housewife before joining Edmunds , while Lee had been a servant for an aristocratic family . “ Edmunds mentored the very first Korean women who chose to have a career with professional education , ” said an official at the Korean Nurses Association . Born in Ontario , Canada , Edmunds received her training as a nurse in Michigan in the U . S . and arrived in Korea as a Christian missionary in 1903 . During her years as the president of Pogunyogwan from 1903 to 1908 , she translated a number of English - language textbooks on nursing into Korean and introduced the first uniform for nurses to wear in the country . She married William Butler Harrison , an American pastor who worked in Korea ’ s South Jeolla region , in 1908 . Upon marring Harrison , she joined her husband ’ s missionary work in the Jeolla region . Their son , Charles , was born in Mokpo , South Jeolla Province in 1911 , and later participated as a marine officer during the Korean War . Edmunds returned to the U . S . with her husband in 1928 , and died there in 1945 . The Order of Merit , received Tuesday by the Korean Nurses Association on Edmunds ’ behalf , will be handed over to her descendants ― who currently live in the U . S . ― at the opening ceremony of the International Council of Nurses 2015 Conference in Seoul on June 19 . By Claire Lee ( dyc @ heraldcorp . com ) [ 우리 아이 영어 글쓰기 , 어떻게 교육 하 나요 ] 	 더 많 은 기사 보 러 가 기 → [ 코리아 헤럴드 홈페이지 ] [ 트위터 ] [ 페이스북 ] 	 구독 신청 1588 - 0533 	 <ⓒ KoreaHerald ( www . koreaherald . com ) 무단 전재 및 재 배포 금지 >