According to a method of manufacturing a vertical nitride light emitting device, a first conductivity type nitride layer, an active layer and a second conductivity type nitride layer are sequentially grown on a preliminary growth substrate to form a light emission structure. The light emission structure is cut according to a final size of light emitting devices, leaving a predetermined thickness of the first conductivity type nitride layer intact. A permanent conductive substrate is provided on the light emission structure and the preliminary substrate is diced into a plurality of units. Laser beam is irradiated to detach the preliminary substrate, thereby separating the light emission structure according to the size of the light emitting devices. First and second contacts are formed on the first conductivity type nitride layer and the permanent conductive substrate, respectively. The permanent conductive substrate is diced to complete individual light emitting devices.