Four Major Banks Outperform Large IT Corporations

The average salary of employees at South Korea's major commercial banks has reached 63.5 million KRW during the first half of this year, surpassing that of large corporations such as Samsung Electronics.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure data released on the 16th, the average salary per employee at the four major banks—KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, and Woori—was reported to be 63.5 million KRW.

This figure is higher than that of key IT companies such as Samsung Electronics (60 million KRW), LG Electronics (59 million KRW), and Kakao (58 million KRW).

Among the banks, Hana Bank had the highest average salary at 68 million KRW, followed by the other three banks, each with an average of 62 million KRW.

Furthermore, the average salary of the four major financial groups has surpassed 100 million KRW for the first time, with KB Financial leading at 112 million KRW, followed by Woori Financial (105 million KRW), Hana Financial (95 million KRW), and Shinhan Financial (92 million KRW).

Record High Earnings Drive Salary Increases

The increase in salary levels can be attributed to record-high earnings. The net profit of the four major financial groups in the first half of this year was 10.3254 trillion KRW, marking the first time it has exceeded 10 trillion KRW.

Despite a trend of interest rate cuts, stable interest income has been maintained, along with improvements in non-interest income such as fees, according to analyses.

Last year, the number of employees at the four major banks stood at 55,231, which is an increase of 67 from the previous year. This is interpreted as an expansion of new hiring despite voluntary retirement programs.

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