This list will likely change heading into 2021 but for now we’re in 2020 so let’s take a look at who among the K-actors is leading the bankability and raking in the dough on K-drama land. Kim Soo Hyun comes back from military service and immediately resumed the top spot as the highest paid actor in television with $85,000 USD per episode and in the same level is Hyun Bin at second place who more than earned his fee at $83,900. Jo In Sung stays strong rounding out the top three with $67,100 per episode despite not having a drama in recent years. Fourth place is a surprise with So Ji Sub who commands $67,000 per episode and my baby boy Lee Seung Gi ekes into the 5th spot charging $58,000 per episode tied with Lee Min Ho and Yoo Ah In. Rounding out the rest of the top 10 is Lee Jong Seok, Song Joong Ki, and Ji Chang Wook. A newcomer to the heavyweight ranks who I expect to vault into this list next year for sure is Park Seo Joon.
Top 10 highest paid K-actors on television in 2020:
5. Lee Min Ho – $58,700
5. Yoo Ah In – $58,700
8. Lee Jong Seok – $50,300
9. Song Joong Ki – $50,300
10. Ji Chang Wook – $42,000
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Suprised park seo joon isnt here. Ksh deserves every penny he is such a good actors.
This list is from 2012 or 2013.
It is not reliable. Koalas is going back to time. Looks like the drama she hated, she is busy with time travel herself
LOL i think you are from 2012 or 2013, this is current statistics for 2020.
No it is not. This list came in 2013 forst. Do ur research before u spew bs
Actually it was reported as early as February that indeed KSH is 2020 Korea’s highest paid actor. It was reported then that he would be receiving 200 million Won or $167,000 per episode of IONTBO. The list is not updated, but doesn’t change the fact that he is 2020 Korea’s highest paid actor.
Yea definitely KSH deserves every single dollar he makes. He’s absolutely phenomenal. As is Hyun Bin so I’m really glad to see him so up there.
Yoo Ah In, So Ji Sub, and Lee Seung Gi well deserved. Where's Gong Yoo at? Wait forget he get paid higher than everyone here alone with LBH.
@loveaholic that’s what I thought? Those two should right there in top 3 at the very least. Maybe they’re in a different list ?
No because this list is a couple years back that's why Gong Yoo and LBH are not included. LBH is the highest paid Korean actor for dramas alone with Kwon Sang Woo and that's the accurate list. Gong Yoo is on that list. Not this one. In mine opinion this is more to the oppa fans list.
I expected Jo Jung Suk to be on the list, since got approx $57400 for one episode of Hospital Playlist. He voluntarily reduced his usual pay which is approx between $73000-$82000.The article is available on Soompi.
He is in six figures actually if there is no pay cut bcoz of his movie star status
But where is Lee Byung hun and Gong Yoo? Why aren’t they on the list? Just wondering.
Its really absurd seeing comments about LMH not being able to act.
If he wasn't such a great actor then he wouldn't have hit dramas and he's obvioualy not the only handsome kdrama actor so there's obviously no way he got that far with only looks. He's a great actor some of y'all just can't accept the fact that he's good. As per the salary I don't really know how it works but I know LMH earns more than that. That list is so outdated I've been seeing the same thing for years now. Update your list please.
My Love from the Star revived my love for K-drama (started with Full House, Dae Jang Geum and Autumn in my Heart, then I went on hiatus for about 7-8 years). It’s amazing to think how young Kim Soo Hyun was when he starred in The Moon Embraces the Sun, followed by The Thieves, MLFTS and Secrety, Greatly.
All actors have their failed projects, but in terms of the most successful one when it comes to the biggest hit in Korean, Hyun Bin is definitely the one ahead with 3 major drama Hits and few decent at the box office.
This actprs just dont get paid for hits or flops locally. They get paid for profit which they bring from overseas distribution and brands they put for drama. If drama makes profit ecen if it doesnt work in korea, they will get big pay from profit sharing which most aftors r discreet about. Exoect someone like ksh who is mediaplay kong of all time. Even madr an article sating he earned 81.million usd. Who is rock or tom cruise or robert downey jr lol?
First of all, please learn to write in English properly if you're going to spam every comment section with your saltiness. Your gibberish is barely understandable. Autocorrect is a thing, you know? And you're still bitter that your opppppaaaaarrrr is a flop despite having Korea's top drama writer writing for him? Aw. C'mon, it's been weeks. Get over it. Everyone else has already forgotten about it. That's usually what happens when you only have a(somewhat)pretty face and no acting skills to back it up. Stop embarrassing yourself.
Wow u think u slayed me?seriously people on this blog r finny as hell. And i m not here to pass english test. I mafe my point crystal clear that u have to trivute ur id in my name.
And rofl my oppar will be fine. Why do u have to use mulriple names? I know who u r.
My oppar drama is getting released in china soon as well. He is doing way more than fine with his doube digits cfs and profutable drama despite korean not liking it.
But ur oppa ksh the so called h8ghest paid mediaplay oppar, he is flopping with 4%. No one cares about accliam than internet edgy people. Ratings matter. Amd now dont use metflix bcoz u people said netflix dont matter
My oppar is still hetter than flowerbasr u stan. And my oppa will get snother big project soon bcoz he brings money despite the ratings which ur fave is incapable of. Such a showpiece
wow i'm shocked park seo joon is earning less than ji chang wook. i love ji chang wook but park seo joon definitely has given more well known hits than him and has a stronger presence on the movie side too. also, song joong ki is earning less than lee seung gi per episode? did the failure of arthdal bump him down a little? dots was such a huge boost for him and despite seung gi having decent ratings for his post army dramas i don't think any of them succeeded enough to guarantee him a higher salary than sjk. is it his variety presence that puts him higher? i don't know something about this list just seems so off to me lol
I’m confused about lee seungi too, he’s not as popular I think. I mean he is but not as MUCH as his pay says. Also, PSJ is well paid but JCW is one of the most paid ones bcuz I think he has more endorsements overseas too. Like he has a name in China. JCW has more brand value in terms of overall popularity, hence the pay. But still. I agree PSJ deserves to get paid more than he does to stand a spot in this list. Love him and hate how he is underrated in some places:(
This list is from like 2013. Ksh got paid 200kusd per episode for okay drama. I can name 7 or 8 actors who get paid in six figures in k drama land. And senior actors who make drama comeback in lole 5 or 10 years.
You are using this old figure? And call your blog a great source of info?
Get updated with times
And people above, this list is 7 or 8 years old. Now salaries differ with overseas distribution and profit sharing. Top stars get in 6 figures because of high end distribution etc.
yeah this definitely feels like a dated salary report she might have to check her sources from now on there have been so many posts on this blog with wrong information with no cross checking
She saaid netflix rankings doesnt count as well when drama she hated moved to yearly end ranking top 15 worldwide already
She is stuck with facebook gen.
And then she makes this article from decade ago
1. Lee Minho
2. Kim Soo Hyun
3. Gong yoo/hyun bin/ lee byung hun
4. Song Joong Ki
5. Jo In Sung
6. Jo Jeong Suk
7. Park Seo Joon
This is the above 100 mil/ep league in korea.
Lydia i nelieve u bcoz before media reported yhat osj is not doing mount jiri, u told it here on this blog. And few days later it came our right. Mediaplaying is not good bcoz it backfires like it is backfiring with ksh okay 200k usd salary media articles with those ratings
I think include LJS and LSG, read that news in 2018/9, couldn’t remember.
whatttt?? Ksh paid 200 for its ok? Thats crazy.. wonder how much hb is paid for cloy since alhambra he was paid 100 k ish..
Yup he made mutilple articles on it. Mediaplay backfires when ratings dont comr as expected. Lmh hyun bin , park seo joon etc dont mediaplay their salaries
There's gongyoo's pict, yet he's not in the list. No sense
Because it is old list from 2013 or so.
Gong yoo is in 6 figures.
Next one who might move into 6 figures is park bo gun . He has moved into 80 to 90k salary these days
is there a link to the source? like the other comments mention there are so many other successful high paid actors not mentioned and maybe i'm remembering it wrong but i'm pretty sure i read an article about song joong ki earning quite a large salary that does not match up with what's mentioned here