Park Ji-won is a writer for The Korea Times who has been covering a wide range of topics from Korea’s culture to its politics. An avid journalism enthusiast to the core, Ji-won brings a thoughtful and unique perspective to every topic she covers. On weekends, you'll often find her contemplating life’s purpose on a yoga mat — with a cup of quality tea in hand. A native Korean speaker by birth and fluent in English through her work, she went to college in Japan and is learning Chinese and French — hoping to add Polish, Russian and Thai to the mix.
Average income for celebrities rises
By Park Ji-won
The average income for Korean celebrities, including singers, actors and models, hit 34.74 million won ($30,926) in 2012, up 3.03 million won from 2011, latest data showed.
The figures were unveiled in a report National Tax Service (NTS) submitted to lawmaker An Min-suk of Democratic Party. The report covers 25,000 celebrities whose total income reached 868.3 billion won.
The average income has risen for the third consecutive year in 2012. It fell to 25 million won in 2009 from 28.52 million won following the global financial crisis but rebounded to 27.41 million won in 2010 and 31.75 million won in 2011.
The income polarization among them, however, has been widening.
Singers, who are leading hallyu or Korean Wave, topped the list. Average earnings for 4,114 singers reached 52.55 million won in 2012. Meanwhile, the 6,810 models earned 13.1 million won. The income for 14,076 actors averaged 41.34 million won.