Credit: HighZiumStudio, Edam Entertainment, Golden Medalist, KB Financial Group
Ever wondered how much your favorite K-drama stars get paid? With reports of some actors pulling in more than a billion won (around $720,000) per episode, it’s no surprise there’s a lot of curiosity about actor salaries in Korea. Let’s take a peek into their world and see who’s topping the charts.
Song Joong Ki
Credit: HighZiumStudio
Song Joong Ki reportedly earned 8.8 billion won (approximately $6.3 million) for his roles in tvN’s drama Vincenzo and JTBC’s drama Reborn Rich . He is said to have received 200 million won (approximately $143,000) per episode for the 20-episode Vincenzo and over 300 million won (approximately $216,000) per episode for the 16-episode Reborn Rich .
Kim Soo Hyun
The actor with the highest reported per-episode fee is Kim Soo Hyun . He reportedly earned 500 million won (approximately $400,000) per episode for the 8-episode Coupang Play drama One Day in 2021, a significant portion of the drama’s 1.25 billion won (approximately $898,000) per episode production cost. Previously, he was said to have received 800 million won (approximately $575,000) per episode for tvN’s Queen of Tears . However, reports later indicated that Kim Soo Hyun voluntarily reduced his fee to 300 million won (approximately $216,000) per episode to ease the production burden. The total production cost of Queen of Tears was 56 billion won (approximately $40.2 million) for its 16 episodes, or about 350 million won (approximately $252,000) per episode.
Park Eun Bin
Credit: Namu Actors
There were rumors that Park Eun Bin would receive 300 million won (approximately $216,000) per episode for her role in the upcoming drama Hyper Knife . However, her agency and production company representatives denied these claims, stating that “there was no such proposal.”
IU
Credit: Getty Image Korea
IU is considered the highest-paid actress in the Korean entertainment industry. It was reported that her per-episode fee for the upcoming Netflix drama When Life Gives You Tangerines is 500 million won (approximately $359,000). Park Bo Gum, who also stars in the drama, is reportedly receiving a similar amount. However, IU’s agency has denied the rumors about her payment.
Song Kang Ho
Credit: Sublime
Song Kang Ho was reported to have received 700 million won (approximately $503,000) per episode for his role in the Disney Plus drama Uncle Samsik . Originally set to receive a total of 7 billion won (approximately $5 million) for the 10-episode drama, the number of episodes was later increased to 16. Consequently, Song Kang Ho’s agency clarified that his per-episode pay for Uncle Samsik is less than 400 million won (approximately $287,000) due to the increase in episodes.
Lee Jung Jae
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Lee Jung Jae reportedly received more than 1 billion won per episode for his role in Squid Game Season 2 on Netflix. As the first K-drama to exceed a 100 billion won ($71.9 million) production cost, the lead actor Lee Jung Jae is said to have received $1 million (approximately 1.4 billion won) per episode. This marks the highest-ever per-episode fee for a Korean actor. With Squid Game planned for 13 episodes over three seasons, Lee Jung Jae’s total estimated earnings could reach $13 million (18 billion won).
Bae Yong Joon
Credit: Joonang Photo
Bae Yong Joon reportedly received 250 million won (approximately $180,000) per episode for his role in the 2007 drama The Legend . At the time, his agency explained that this payment wasn’t just for his appearance but also included profits distributed to the agency for its direct participation in the drama.
Credit: OSEN, Ten Asia
According to the Korean Broadcasting Actors’ Union and the Korea Broadcasting Performers’ Association, the late Lee Sun Kyun received 200 million won ($144,000) per episode for his role in Payback , and Namgoong Min received 160 million won ($115,000) per episode for his role in One Dollar Lawyer .
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