How Much Do K-pop Idols Earn In Their First Salary?
Many K-pop idols have recently opened up about the amount of their first salaries on entertainment programs
Kim Yoo-yeon and Kim Na-kyung from the 24-member girl group TripleS appeared on MBC’s “Omniscient Interfering View” and talked about their first salary. Known as the most crowded girl group at the moment, Triple S members surprised everyone when they revealed that the production cost alone was already 10 billion won.
Jeon Hyun-moo added, “I heard your first salary was equal to the salary of a manager at a large company”. In response, member Kim Yoo-yeon said, “I received my first salary last year and treated the members to a meal”.
NewJeans reportedly received their first salary two months after their debut. According to Financial Supervisory Service in April, ADOR sales last year reached up to 110.3 billion won, five times higher than that of the previous year (19 billion won).
With its operating profit amounting to 33.5 billion won, the total salary that NewJeans members received was around 26.1 billion won. As the group has five members, each of them might have earned more than 5 billion won.
In addition, STAYC, a girl group known for continuous hit songs such as “SO BAD”, “Stereotype”, “Bubble”, etc., revealed that they got paid for the first time after “Teddy Bear” promotion. STAYC’s first salary was estimated to be 98.25 million won, and each member received about 200 million won in the second time.
Choi Ye-na, a solo singer and former IZ*ONE member, showed up on a web entertainment program and mentioned her salary. She said, “I went abroad with my family for the first time after receiving my first salary since my solo debut. We just traveled again this year”, adding “I also bought a house for my parents in Yangpyeong”.
In fact, the timing and amount of salaries for each idol and there are idols who don’t earn that much in their first settlement. 2AM’s Jo Kwon shocked everyone when he confessed that he shed tears after getting paid for the first time.
Jo Kwon said, “My first salary was only 210,000 won after excluding all training expenses that the company had paid before. Within only 3 years… I burst into tears. I hugged my mom and couldn’t stop crying”.
In the case of singer Kang Hye-yeon, who used to be active as a member of BESTie and EXID, she witnessed a debt of more than 100 million won in the last settlement. GFRIEND’s Yuju also disclosed that she got paid for the first time after two years of debut.
