By Park Si-soo
The 36-year-old singer and songwriter, who rocked the world with "Gangnam Style" and earned worldwide fame, was the highest-paid Korean celebrity last year, earning more than $40 million in sales through globe-trotting concerts, TV commercials and other profitable activities.
His estimated personal income was a whopping $28 million under his 7:3 profit-sharing contract with YG Entertainment.
Five-member boy band Bigbang ranked second, followed by figure skater Kim Yuna. Coming next were Girls' Generation and rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae, who accumulated massive wealth by appearing in various TV commercials.
The sixth-highest celebrity income earner was gold-medal-winning swimmer Park Tae-hwan. Following him in the pool were six-member boy band 2PM, actress Kim Tae-hee and singer and actor Lee Seung-gi.
The list was collated based on news reports, including one from Forbes Korea, and multiple earning reports from securities companies. The exact income of each of the listed celebrities was not available.
Psy is expected to retain his status as the highest-paid Korean celebrity this year considering that he posted about 10 billion won ($8.86 million) in sales during the first quarter of the year alone. The biggest contributor was a commercial that aired during halftime at the U.S. Super Bowl match in February, in which he was paid some 5 billion won to wear a pistachio green blazer and dance with long-legged dancers dressed as nuts. Psy's income for the rest of the year is expected to hinge on his new song, "Gentleman," that will be premiered at a Seoul concert on April 13.
Bigbang raked in a staggering 78 billion won in sales last year, largely through its world tour concerts, according to a report from LIG Investment and Securities. The band earned 6.7 billion won with only two concerts in Taiwan last October, the report said, reflecting the group's massive popularity in Asian countries.
It's unknown how the profit was distributed between individual members and their agency, also YG Entertainment. The band's leader G-Dragon confessed during a TV show last month he gets the largest slice of the pie, saying "My earning is really nice."
"My parents, especially my mom, are very happy with this," he said. "We moved to a new house and bought a new car with my income."
The third highest income earner, Kim Yuna, reportedly earned 25.1 billion in sales last year by featuring in as many as 34 TV commercials, according to public relations company Innocean Worldwide. Her employers include global companies such as Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motors.
The 22-year-old athlete saw her sagging popularity rebound sharply after winning the World Figure Skating Championships in Canada last month. She will retire after the Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia next year.
Nine-member band Girls' Generation earned more than 600 billion won in sales with its main vocalist Yoo-na known to be the highest-paid member. The majority of the profit was made in Japan where their album and music video almost flew off the shelves.
While rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae reportedly earned 16.2 billion won, swimmer Park Tae-hwan made 14.7 billion won. The biggest contributor to their profit was appearance fees for TV commercials. Park's fans vented frustration last month over his "excessive" money-making activities, which included shopping channel appearances.
Most profitable agency: SM
A growing number of local management agencies are cashing in on the worldwide boom of Korean pop culture and entertainers.
SM Entertainment, headed by singer-turned-businessman Lee Soo-man, was the most profitable agency with 241.3 billion won in sales last year, a 69 percent increase from 143 billion won in 2011. Its operating profit was 60.5 billion won, nearly double the previous year. SM represents Girls' Generation, TVXQ, Super Junior, BoA, SHINee and others.
The second most profitable agency was YG Entertainment, owned by singer-turned-businessman Yang Hyun-suk. The firm that manages Psy, Bigbang and 2NE1 posted 99.7 billion won in sales last year, up from 62.5 billion won in the previous year.
Coming next was JYP Entertainment, owned by singer and songwriter Park Jin-young, which earned an estimated 40 billion won in sales last year. Two agencies vied for the next place ㅡ Cube Entertainment and FNC Entertainment.
Cube possesses popular boy band Beast and girl band 4minute, while FNC has CNBLUE and FT Island.
"We will see more agencies reaching the 100 billion sales mark as the popularity of Korean music and celebrities continues to increase worldwide," said Kang Tae-kyu, a music industry analyst.
Korean Language
가장 돈을 많이 번 한류스타는 누구?
한마디로 2012년은 싸이의 해였다. 그는“강남스타일”의 인기로 세계적 명성을 얻었고, 전세계에서 콘서트와 TV광고를 비롯해 각종 수익창출 활동을 함으로써 450 억 원(4천만 달러)을 벌어들이며 작년 한 해 가장 돈을 많이 번 스타로 등극했다.
그의 개인소득은 YG와의 7:3 수익분배 계약에 따라 2천8백만 달러에 달했다.
5인조 남성밴드 빅뱅은 2위, 김연아, 소녀시대, 역시 광고에 자주 출연함으로써 많은 수익을 낸 손연재가 그 뒤를 따랐다.
6위는 금메달리스트 박태환 선수가, 2PM, 김태희, 이승기가 뒤를 이었다.
본 리스트는 포브스 코리아의 보고서와 여러 증권회사의 소득 보고서를 취합해서 산출한 것으로, 정확한 개별 소득액은 알려지지 않았다.
싸이는 올해 1사분기에 벌써 100 억 원의 수익을 올림으로써, 최대 수익을 올린 스타로서 싸이의 입지는 올해도 변함없을 듯 하다.
가장 큰 영향을 준 것은 2월 미국 수퍼볼 하프 타임에 방영된 광고 수익료로 땅콩모양을 한 사람들 사이에 초록색 자켓을 입고 피스타치오 광고에 출연해 50억을 받았다. 싸이가 남은 올 한해 동안 얼마를 벌어들일지는 4월 13일 서울에서 공개되는“젠틀맨”의 성공여부에 달려 있다.
LIG 투신에 따르면, 빅뱅은 작년 주로 해외공연수익으로 780 억원을 벌어들였으며, 아시아에서의 인기를 입증하듯 지난 10월 단 2차례의 대만 콘서트로 67 억 원의 수익을 냈다.
멤버간 그리고 에이전시 YG 엔터테인먼트가 수익을 어떻게 분해했는지는 알려지지 않았지만, 그룹 리더 G드래곤은 지난 달 TV프로그램에 출연해 자신의 몫이 가장 많다고 말했다.
그는“저희 부모님, 특히 어머님이 가장 좋아하세요. 제가 번 돈으로 이사도 하고 새 차도 장만했어요”라고 말했다.
수익 순위 3위인 김연아는 홍보회사 이노션 월드와이드에 따르면 작년 34편의 광고에 출연함으로써 251 억 원을 벌어들였다. 김연아의 광고주는 삼성전자 현대차를 포함한 대기업들이다.
22살의 피겨스케이터 김연아의 국내 인기가 주춤했지만, 지난 달 캐나다에서 열린 세계 피겨스케이팅 챔피언쉽에서 우승함으로써 그녀의 인기는 다시 치솟게 되었다. 김연아는 내년 러시아에서 열릴 동계 올림픽을 끝으로 은퇴할 예정이다.