NC Crowned 'Salary King'... How Much Is Taekjin Hyung's Salary? [Buaeri's Game Dictionary]

Kim Taek-jin, CEO of NCSoft

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] The gaming industry was stirred by news that NCSoft plans to raise developers' salaries by more than 13 million KRW. With NCSoft announcing a 'radical plan' to remove the upper limit on starting salaries for new hires, NCSoft employees have become the 'salary kings' of the gaming industry.

'Salary King' NCSoft... Industry's Highest Level

On the 11th, NCSoft announced its employee salary increase policy. Earlier, Nexon and Netmarble, collectively known as the '3N' along with NCSoft, revealed plans to raise salaries by 8 million KRW for all employees, raising expectations for NCSoft. Notably, NCSoft led its best-ever performance by surpassing 2 trillion KRW in revenue for the first time, thanks to the strong performance of the 'Lineage brothers' last year. As expected, NCSoft's raise plan is evaluated as the highest level in the industry.

According to the compensation policy disclosed by NCSoft, the company will abolish the 'college graduate starting salary system' to attract top talent. The starting salary for new employees is 55 million KRW for development positions and 47 million KRW for non-development positions. The starting salary is a 'minimum guarantee' concept with no upper limit. NCSoft stated, "Salaries can be higher depending on the individual's capabilities and expertise, and we plan to set industry-leading salaries for outstanding talent." This means even new hires can earn 'hundreds of millions KRW' if they have the ability.

NCSoft will also raise salaries for all employees. Development positions will see an increase of 13 million KRW plus alpha, and non-development positions will receive 10 million KRW plus alpha. Along with the raise for all employees, additional salary increases will be given to top performers. This raise is up to 5 million KRW higher than the increases announced earlier by Nexon and Netmarble.

NCSoft employees will receive two incentives this month. The regular incentive will be paid individually as before, and a separate 'CEO Special Incentive' of 8 million KRW will also be given. This will be paid to all employees regardless of employment type or position, including full-time, contract, dispatched, and interns.

How Much Does CEO Taekjin Receive?

NCSoft CEO Kim Taekjin, who made this bold decision, also receives one of the highest salaries in the industry. It is estimated that his salary reached 18 billion KRW last year. As of the first half of last year, CEO Kim received a total of 13.292 billion KRW, more than double the 6.248 billion KRW he earned in the first half of 2019.

During the same period, Bang Junhyuk, Chairman of Netmarble, received 690 million KRW, and Kwon Youngsik, CEO, earned a total of 2.036 billion KRW. Expanding to the IT industry, Han Seongsuk, CEO of Naver, received 2.36 billion KRW, and Cho Sooyong, Co-CEO of Kakao, received 593 million KRW.

CEO Kim's salary is determined annually by NCSoft's compensation committee based on performance. NCSoft uses the concept of a 'performance year' to measure salaries, where the 2020 salary is based on performance from April 2019 to March 2020. CEO Kim earned 9.45 billion KRW in 2019 and 13.836 billion KRW in 2018.

Editor's Note

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