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By Park Si-soo
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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.
