Who earned most in finance sector this year?

By Kim Bo-eun

Hyundai Card Vice Chairman and CEO Chung Tae-young

Hyundai Card Vice Chairman and CEO Chung Tae-young topped the list of chiefs in the financial sector in terms of pay received in the first half of this year, data showed.

According to data from the Financial Supervisory Service, Sunday, Chung received a total of 2.66 billion won ($2.24 million) ― 1.08 billion won from Hyundai Card, 825 million won from Hyundai Capital and 754 million won from Hyundai Commercial ― in this period.

The second-highest-paid leader of a financial firm is Mirae Asset Daewoo CEO and Mirae Asset Global Investment Group Vice Chairman Choi Hyun-man, who received 2.64 billion won.

Following was Hana Financial Group Chairman Kim Jung-tai, with a paycheck of 2.27 billion won.

This significantly exceeds the paychecks of the chiefs of the other three major financial groups. Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byoung received 850 million won. Woori Financial Group Chairman Son Tae-seung and KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo followed, receiving 699 million won and 578 million won, respectively.

Among bank CEOs, KB Kookmin Bank's Hur Yin topped the list, receiving 999 million won. He was followed by Shinhan's Jin Ok-dong who received 718 million won and Hana's Ji Sung-kyoo who received 670 million won. Woori's Kwon Kwang-seok's pay was not disclosed.

Among chiefs of non-life insurers, Meritz Fire & Marine CEO Kim Yong-beom received the largest paycheck at 1.59 billion won.

Orange Life CEO Cheong Mun-kuk received the highest pay among the leaders of life insurers, at 1.15 billion won.

The chiefs of securities firms accounted for seven of the top 10 CEOs of financial firms receiving the largest paychecks.

At a number of brokerages, senior executives received more than the CEOs, with paychecks of tens of billions of won. This was the case for Hanyang Securities, NH Investment & Securities, Samsung Securities, Hanwha Investment & Securities and Kiwoom Securities.

Hyundai Card's Chung's paycheck was significantly larger than that of the CEOs of the other card firms in the top 3 ranking. Shinhan Card CEO Lim Young-jin received 547 million won, and KB Kookmin Card CEO Lee Dong-cheol 520 million won.

Local firms are required to report the pay of executives who receive more than 500 million won.