DistantNews
Support us
🇰🇷 South Korea /Economy & Trade

Major South Korean Companies Paid Average of 55 Million Won in Six-Month Salaries

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Documents & data Context piece
  • Employees at 345 major South Korean companies received an average 54.99 million won in salary during the first half of the year, up 7.1% from a year earlier.
  • Twenty companies paid average six-month salaries above 100 million won, and securities firms accounted for 12 of them.
  • Korea Investment Holdings recorded the highest average at 184 million won, while lower-paying companies generally had more part-time workers or jobs in food, retail and catering.

Employees at major South Korean companies received an average of 54.99 million won in salary during the first six months of the year, according to an analysis by CEO Score. The figure rose 7.1 percent, or 3.63 million won, from the same period a year earlier.

CEO Score examined 345 companies from the 500 South Korean firms with the highest sales, focusing on businesses whose employee-pay changes could be tracked. A simple annual calculation would put the average yearly pay above 100 million won, although the report cautioned that first-half salaries often include performance bonuses paid at the start of the year based on the previous year’s results.

The most common range was 40 million to 60 million won, covering 150 companies, or 43.5 percent of the sample. Another 24.9 percent paid between 20 million and 40 million won, while 18.6 percent fell between 60 million and 80 million won. Six-month average pay exceeded 100 million won at 20 companies.

Korea Investment Holdings ranked first at 184 million won per employee. Meritz Securities followed with 165.21 million won, ahead of Korea Investment and Securities at 162 million won, Yuanta Securities at 149 million won, SK Hynix at 144 million won, Dunamu at 139.75 million won and Mirae Asset Securities at 136 million won.

Securities firms made up 12 of the 20 companies above the 100 million-won mark. CEO Score researcher Kim Seong-chun attributed the high pay to a strong domestic stock market and increased trading volume, which boosted securities firms’ profits and performance bonuses. At the other end, E-Land World, CJ Freshway, Hyundai Green Food, L&F, Hanwha Hotels & Resorts, Daou Data, Ottogi and E-Mart recorded average first-half pay between 17 million and 26 million won. The analysis linked those lower figures to larger shares of interns and part-time workers, as well as relatively low-paid jobs in catering, food and retail.

The impact of the KOSPI index continuing to rise since the second half of last year and the sharp increase in stock trading volume was substantial.

— Kim Seong-chunThe CEO Score researcher explained why securities firms paid unusually high bonuses and salaries.
About this summary

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog