Kim Soo Hyun is facing backlash over K-Drama appearance fees skyrocketing in under a decade. A viral Pann post revealed actors’ pay jumped from ₩40 million KRW (about $29,400 USD) per episode in 2015 to a staggering ₩400 million KRW (about $294,000 USD) per episode in 2024 — a 10x increase.
Currently, lead roles in standard dramas make between 100 to 200 million won per episode. But OTT platforms are disrupting even those numbers.
Viral Pann Post
"Currently, leading roles in regular dramas typically earn between 100 to 200 million won per episode, but even those figures are being inflated due to the rise of OTT platforms. For OTT productions, leading actors are now paid 400 to 500 million won per episode. Producers say some stars are even demanding as much as 1 billion won per episode."
"Is there any other job where wages have skyrocketed like this in such a short period? And the pay gap between male and female actors is reportedly massive."
Netizens slammed the "abnormal" wage inflation and the industry enabling it, hitting out at celebrities, producers, and consumers alike. Many highlighted how staff often don’t get minimum wage thanks to these inflated fees.
Netizens on Pann
"Lee Hyori reportedly earned 4.2 billion won just five months after filming a commercial. That’s insane. The whole thing is extremely distorted.""It’s true, celebrity appearance fees are just absurd. They make money way too easily. At least with old-school variety shows, stars would starve for a week on 10,000 won, do manual labor for a day in ‘Life Experience,’ roll around in the mud doing physical comedy skits on ‘Infinite Challenge’ — it looked tough, and you could kind of understand why they got paid. But now? All they do is sit in a studio in pretty clothes, watch videos, and say a few things. Yet they earn tens of millions per episode? And travel shows used to actually take celebrities on trips, now it’s just influencers and YouTubers traveling while celebrities watch from a studio. It’s just too easy for them now."
"Just stop consuming. Don’t watch their shows or movies, don’t listen to idol songs, and stop buying hundreds of useless products just for photo cards. If consumers stop, companies will stop hiring them as models."
"Just look at the K-Drama industry. Because of these absurd actor fees, staff members don’t even get paid minimum wage. It needs to be legally regulated like in Japan so they can’t ask for such ridiculous sums."
"You all act like you’re upset, but you’re the ones consuming. You’re the ones who go, ‘Wow, Wonyoung used that? I want to buy it too!’ and then praise it… and now you’re complaining it’s expensive? Please."
Calls for wage transparency and regulation are growing louder as the gap between actor salaries and other industry workers widens. The controversy is gaining traction amid discussions around sustainability and fairness in the Korean entertainment industry.
