In the first half of this year, the individuals who received the highest compensation at major commercial banks in Korea were not the current bank presidents but retirees. There were even cases where severance pay alone exceeded 1 billion won.

On August 24, the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system published the semiannual reports of KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank, and Woori Bank. According to these reports, most of those listed among the top five highest-paid employees in the first half of this year were retirees.

At Hana Bank, five employees who retired from branch manager positions each received between 1,031 million and 1,122 million won. The amount they received was more than double the compensation of Hana Bank President Lee Hosung, who earned 556 million won in the first half of the year. One retiree received severance pay totaling 1,060 million won.

People Who Received More Than Bank Presidents

In the first half of this year, most of the top 5 highest-paid employees at commercial banks were retirees, not current bank presidents. There were cases where severance pay alone exceeded 1 billion won .

Severance Pay Far Exceeding the Average
Thanks to strong performance, record highs were achieved

Photo by Yonhap News

At KB Kookmin Bank, former investigators and team members who retired were also among the highest earners. Their compensation ranged from 876 million to 996 million won. The highest severance pay reached 916 million won.

At Shinhan Bank, aside from President Jeong Sanghyuk (who received 1,154 million won), the other four people among the top five highest-paid employees were all retirees. After stepping down from branch manager positions, their combined salaries, bonuses, and severance pay amounted to just over 900 million won each.

At Woori Bank, all five of the top earners were employees who took voluntary retirement at the deputy manager level, each receiving between 901 million and 996 million won.

This indicates that exceptionally large severance payouts, far exceeding the average, still exist. As of last year, the average voluntary retirement payout at Korea's top five banks was around 350 million won, and when statutory severance pay is included, it is known that the average payout exceeds 500 million won.

The increase in compensation has been attributed to the strong performance of the banking sector. In the first half of this year, the combined net profit of the four major banks was 8.0967 trillion won, up 1.113 trillion won from the same period last year. As a result, the average salary for employees in the first half reached a record high of 63.5 million won.