The K-drama industry has minted some of the most handsomely paid television actors on the planet. Lee Jung-jae currently sits at the top, reportedly earning between $700,000 and $1 million per episode for Squid Game. But the era of uncapped, eye-watering salaries may be winding down faster than anyone expected.
Netflix’s decision in September 2025 to soft-cap Korean actor fees at roughly $220,000 (₩300 million) per episode is already changing who gets cast, what shows get made, and how much bargaining power even the biggest stars retain. The numbers below are the most credible industry estimates available, but almost none are officially confirmed. Where agencies have denied figures, that’s noted clearly.
Key Takeaways:
- Elite Korean actors earn between $99,000 and $1 million per episode for high-grossing global K-dramas and Disney+ productions.
- Lee Jung-jae is currently the highest-paid Korean actor, with per-episode fees reported at $700,000 to $1 million for Squid Game Seasons 2 and 3.
- Song Kang-ho, Ma Dong-seok, and Kim Soo-hyun all sit in the $360,000 to $525,000 per-episode bracket, though several of these figures have been contested.
- Netflix capped per-episode fees at approximately ₩300 million (~$220,000) in 2025, signalling the end of the K-drama salary boom.
How We Compiled This Ranking
Figures were sourced from Korean entertainment outlets (OSEN, Korea Times, Soompi, Allkpop), international entertainment media, and industry reports from Celebrity Net Worth, LaoDong, KoiMoi, and Fandom. Currency conversions are approximate and subject to exchange rate fluctuations. Where agencies or production companies have issued formal denials, those are flagged in each entry.
| Rank | Actor | Estimated Per-Episode Fee |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lee Jung-jae | $700,000–$1 million |
| 2 | Song Kang-ho | $325,000–$525,000 |
| 3 | Kim Soo-hyun | $222,000–$370,000 |
| 4 | Ma Dong-seok | ~$360,000 |
| 5 | Jun Ji-hyun | $220,000–$290,000 |
| 6 | Choi Min-sik | ~$259,000 |
| 7 | IU | ~$222,000 (est.) |
| 8 | Park Bo-gum | ~$222,000 (est.) |
| 9 | Lee Byung-hun | $111,000+ confirmed |
| 10 | Park Hyung-sik | Reported $290,000–$370,000 (officially denied) |
| 11 | Jang Dong-gun | $74,000–$93,000 (last confirmed, 2012) |
| 12 | Won Bin | N/A (no acting work since 2010) |
12. Jun Ji-hyun ($220,000–$290,000)
Full name: Jun Ji-hyun (Wang Ji-hyun) | Born: 30 October 1981, Seoul | Profession: Actress, model
Gianna Jun has been one of South Korea’s most bankable actresses for over two decades, and her per-episode fees have climbed steadily to match. For the 2016 drama The Legend of the Blue Sea, SCMP reported she earned between $85,000 and $99,000 per episode. Fast forward to 2025, and LaoDong reports her fee for the Disney+ spy thriller Tempest had risen to approximately ₩300–400 million ($220,000–$290,000) per episode.
That’s a meaningful jump, and it tracks with Disney+’s willingness to pay premium rates for proven stars. Tempest’s total production cost was around ₩70 billion across just nine episodes, so the numbers aren’t surprising. Neither her agency nor the production company has issued any denial of the reported figures.
11. Lee Byung-hun ($111,000+)
Full name: Lee Byung-hun | Born: 12 July 1970, Gwangju | Profession: Actor
Lee Byung-hun is comfortably one of South Korea’s most decorated actors, and the gap in publicly available data around his current earnings is actually one of the most telling data points on this list. For Mr. Sunshine in 2018, Korea Times reported his guarantee was $3.22 million for the full series, roughly $134,000 per episode. His Squid Game Season 1 fee reportedly came in at around $248,000 per episode, and T.O.P. received approximately ₩300 million as a guest star in Season 2. That strongly implies Lee Byung-hun, as a series lead in Seasons 2 and 3, earned considerably more. The exact figure just hasn’t been reported.
His net worth sits at an estimated $20 million, per Celebrity Net Worth and GQ India. He also commands ₩800 million per commercial, which puts his advertising income in a different league entirely.
10. Kim Soo-hyun ($222,000–$370,000)
Full name: Kim Soo-hyun | Born: 16 February 1988, Seoul | Profession: Actor
Kim Soo-hyun once held the title of South Korea’s highest-paid actor, and his earnings remain substantial. For One Ordinary Day on Coupang Play in 2021, his confirmed fee was ₩500 million ($370,000) per episode. For Queen of Tears in 2024, early reports claimed ₩800 million per episode, but Korea Times, citing its sister publication Hankook Ilbo, confirmed the real figure was ₩300 million ($222,000). Kim reportedly accepted the lower rate out of loyalty to writer Park Ji-eun.
A planned Disney+ project called Knock-Off was shelved indefinitely following a personal controversy in early 2025. His highest confirmed per-episode rate remains ₩500 million from One Ordinary Day.
9. Jang Dong-gun ($74,000–$93,000, last confirmed)
Full name: Jang Dong-gun | Born: 7 March 1972, Yongsan District, Seoul | Profession: Actor
Jang Dong-gun’s career spans four decades and includes films and dramas such as Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War, Suits, and A Gentleman’s Dignity. His last confirmed per-episode TV fee was approximately ₩100 million ($74,000–$93,000) for A Gentleman’s Dignity back in 2012. That drama alone earned him ₩2 billion in appearance fees, plus reportedly pushed his endorsement income from $2.4 million to $5.8 million in a single year.
He has focused mostly on films since then, with the action thriller Night Fever set for 2026. If he returned to television today, adjusted-for-inflation estimates would likely put him in the ₩150–200 million range.
8. Choi Min-sik (~$259,000)
Full name: Choi Min-sik | Born: 30 May 1962, Seoul | Profession: Actor
Choi Min-sik is a legend of Korean cinema, best known internationally for Oldboy and more recently for the 2024 hit Exhuma. His first television role in 25 years was Casino (also known as Big Bet) for Disney+ in 2022, and he was paid accordingly. KoiMoi and industry reports consistently place his per-episode fee at ₩350 million ($259,000), a figure that no agency or production company has denied. No new TV projects have been announced since.
7. IU (~$222,000)
Full name: Lee Ji-eun | Born: 16 May 1993, Seoul | Profession: Actor, singer, songwriter
IU had a massive 2024 by any measure. An EDAM Entertainment audit revealed she earned approximately ₩30 billion ($20.4 million) from all sources combined, including film salaries, appearance fees, and settlement payments. Her role in the Netflix hit When Life Gives You Tangerines in 2025 made headlines, but the salary claims didn’t hold up. Reports of ₩500 million per episode circulated widely until Pan Entertainment issued a clear denial: “The claim that IU received ₩500 million per episode is completely false.”
The more reliable estimate, drawn from multiple industry sources, puts her actual fee at around ₩300 million ($222,000). Netflix later refused to match that rate for her next project, Wife of a 21st Century Prince, leaving the drama without an OTT platform as of late 2025.
6. Park Bo-gum (~$222,000)
Full name: Park Bo-gum | Born: 16 June 1993, Seoul | Profession: Actor, singer
Park Bo-gum shared the spotlight with IU in When Life Gives You Tangerines, and the same ₩500 million per-episode rumour circulated about him too. That figure originated from an anonymous online post in March 2025, and since the broader claim was debunked, his reported rate is similarly unreliable. Industry observers place his actual fee in the ₩300 million range ($222,000), consistent with Netflix’s general ceiling for top-tier talent. No separate agency denial was issued for his figure specifically.
5. Ma Dong-seok (~$360,000)
Full name: Lee Dong-seok | Born: 1 March 1971, Seoul | Profession: Actor, producer
Don Lee has built an impressive international profile through films like Train to Busan, Eternals, and The Roundup franchise, and his drama fees now matches that standing. For KBS/Disney+’s Twelve in August–September 2025, he received a widely reported ₩500 million ($360,000) per episode for eight episodes, totalling approximately ₩4 billion. No denial has been issued. His production company, Big Punch Pictures, also netted around ₩10 billion from The Roundup series, giving his income picture a dimension beyond acting fees alone.
The Twelve salary drew significant public backlash when the show’s viewership crashed from 8.1% to 2.4%. Ma and co-star Park Hyung-sik’s combined fees reportedly consumed 34% of the ₩22–23 billion production budget, making it a centrepiece of the ongoing debate about K-drama cost sustainability.
4. Park Hyung-sik (Reported $290,000–$370,000, Officially Denied)
Full name: Park Hyung-sik | Born: 16 November 1991, Yongin-si | Profession: Actor, singer
Park Hyung-sik’s salary situation is the most complicated on this list, mostly because it’s also the most loudly denied. Reports claimed ₩500 million per episode for Doctor Slump in 2024, and ₩400 million for Twelve in 2025. His agency RÊVE Entertainment issued a formal statement on 17 September 2025: “Reports about Park’s per-episode fees, from Doctor Slump to the recent Twelve, are not true.” No alternative figures were offered.
The actual numbers remain unknown. Given that co-star Ma Dong-seok’s ₩500 million fee for Twelve was not denied, and Park’s agency specifically said figures were inaccurate without clarifying in which direction, his real rate could sit anywhere in a broad range. Worth watching as more detail emerges.
3. Song Kang-ho ($325,000–$525,000)
Full name: Song Kang-ho | Born: 17 January 1967, Gimhae, South Gyeongsang | Profession: Actor
Song Kang-ho is arguably the most respected actor in Korean cinema, and his first-ever television appearance in Disney+’s Uncle Samsik in 2024 was an event. Initial reports from a veteran casting director placed his per-episode fee at ₩700 million ($525,000), which for 16 episodes would have been ₩11.2 billion. That would have accounted for more than a quarter of the show’s entire ₩40 billion budget.
His agency Sublime offered a more nuanced picture. Song originally signed for a 10-episode run at ₩700 million per episode. When production extended to 16 episodes, the per-episode rate was adjusted downward, landing closer to ₩437 million ($325,000) on a per-episode calculation. Total compensation likely remained around ₩7 billion. His next confirmed project is the comedy film The Gardeners, currently filming in 2026.
2. Won Bin (~$540,000 per advertisement)
Full name: Kim Do-jin | Born: 10 November 1977, Jeongseon-gun | Profession: Actor, model
Won Bin is a peculiar entry on a per-episode ranking for one straightforward reason: he hasn’t appeared in a single acting project since The Man from Nowhere in 2010. That’s 15+ years away from screens, and yet he remains one of the most commercially sought-after faces in South Korea. His income comes entirely from advertising, where he commands an estimated $540,000 per commercial and has accumulated over ₩24 billion in modelling fees during his extended break.
His wife, actress Lee Na Young, has mentioned in interviews that he reads scripts consistently. No comeback project has been announced. Whether that ever changes remains one of Korean entertainment’s more intriguing open questions.
1. Lee Jung-jae ($700,000–$1 million)
Full name: Lee Jung-jae | Born: 15 December 1972, Seoul | Profession: Actor, filmmaker, entrepreneur
Lee Jung-jae is, by a considerable margin, the highest-paid Korean actor in the current era. Forbes reported his per-episode fee for Squid Game Seasons 2 and 3 at approximately $1 million (₩1.0–1.3 billion), a figure that dozens of major outlets picked up. For context, his Season 1 fee back in 2021 was around ₩330 million ($248,000). The global explosion that followed justified Netflix’s willingness to pay whatever it took to keep him on board.
That said, Lee himself added some nuance in a January 2025 OSEN interview: “It’s true that there is a misunderstanding, but it’s also true that I received a lot.” He described the reported figures as “a bit exaggerated” without specifying by how much. His domestic cable drama Nice Not to Meet You, produced partly through his own Artist Company and airing November–December 2025, drew no salary disclosure, though industry estimates suggest a far more modest ₩200–400 million range for that production.
The Netflix Cap Is Changing Everything
The most significant development in Korean entertainment economics in years landed quietly on 12 September 2025. OSEN reported that Netflix had effectively lowered its ceiling from ₩400 million to ₩300 million per episode for Korean actors. Netflix officially denied a “uniform cap,” stating fees are “flexibly negotiated,” but industry insiders were blunt: “₩300 million is now considered the cap in most cases.”
The practical consequences are already visible. Byeon Woo-seok, one of 2024’s biggest breakout stars thanks to Lovely Runner, is confirmed for Netflix’s Solo Leveling live-action adaptation but is expected to earn under ₩300 million. And IU’s inability to secure Netflix for her next project at her Tangerines rate illustrates how the ceiling is creating real friction even for established stars.
The broader picture is sobering. Korean drama production has fallen from 141 series in 2022 to an estimated 80 in 2025. Actor fees that now consume 30–40% of total budgets, compared to roughly 10% a decade ago, are widely cited as a primary driver. The Korean Drama Production Companies Association held an emergency meeting about lead-actor fees in January 2024, and performance-based compensation models, where pay is tied to viewership outcomes rather than guaranteed upfront, are increasingly being discussed as the realistic path forward. The actors who adapt to that shift will likely define what K-drama stardom looks like over the next decade. Those holding out for peak-era rates may find the scripts stop arriving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Kim Soo-hyun still the highest-paid Korean actor? No. His confirmed peak rate of ₩500 million per episode for One Ordinary Day remains impressive, but Lee Jung-jae’s Squid Game fees put him firmly ahead.
How much do Korean actors earn per episode on average? Netflix’s current practical ceiling sits at approximately ₩300 million ($220,000). The minimum industry rate is around ₩20,000 ($14.80) per episode, with most working actors earning somewhere between those extremes.
Who is the richest actor in the Squid Game cast? Lee Byung-hun leads with an estimated net worth of $20 million, followed by Gong Yoo at approximately $14 million and Lee Jung-jae at around $12 million, per Style Caster and Celebrity Net Worth.
