A light emitting device having a monolithic protection element and a method of fabricating the light emitting device are provided. The light emitting device includes: a light emitter having a cathode and an anode; and the resistive protection element connected to the light emitter in parallel through the cathode and the anode. Here, a resistance Rs of the resistive protection element has a value between a forward resistance Rf and a reverse resistance Rr of a current of the light emitter.