[2020 National Audit] 36% of Employees Earn Over 100 Million KRW Annually... "Issues in Financial Public Enterprises"

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[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] It has been revealed that 36% of employees at eight financial public enterprises under the Financial Services Commission receive annual salaries exceeding 100 million KRW. The heads of Industrial Bank of Korea and Korea Securities Depository earned more than 400 million KRW, and the institution with the highest proportion of employees earning over 100 million KRW was the Korea Development Bank.

According to data submitted on the 22nd by Min Hyung-bae, a member of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, from eight financial public enterprises under the Financial Services Commission, as of 2019, out of a total of 23,992 employees, 8,724 employees, accounting for 36%, earned more than 100 million KRW annually. Among them, 6,984 employees, or 80%, earned between 100 million and 150 million KRW, and 1,678 employees, or 19%, earned between 150 million and 200 million KRW.

By institution, the Korea Development Bank had the highest proportion of employees earning over 100 million KRW. Out of 3,399 total employees, 1,999 employees, or 58.8%, earned over 100 million KRW. This was followed by Korea Securities Depository at 51.9%, Korea Credit Guarantee Fund at 40.3%, and Small and Medium Business Bank at 33.3%. The others were below 30%.

Employees earning more than 300 million KRW included one at Korea Development Bank, two at Korea Securities Depository, and two at Small and Medium Business Bank, while the heads of Industrial Bank of Korea and Korea Securities Depository earned more than 400 million KRW.

The financial public enterprises also showed significant internal wage gaps due to high executive salaries.

Based on average wages, the average annual salary of executives at Small and Medium Business Bank was 347.13 million KRW, approximately 3.6 times higher than the overall average annual salary of regular employees at 96.73 million KRW. At Korea Asset Management Corporation, executives earned 239.09 million KRW, more than 3.4 times the regular employee average of 69.54 million KRW. This was followed by Korea Securities Depository, Korea Housing Finance Corporation, and Korea Development Bank.

Assemblyman Min Hyung-bae, who analyzed the data, pointed out, “It is problematic that financial public enterprises have high executive salaries and large internal wage gaps similar to private financial companies,” emphasizing, “A sense of social responsibility commensurate with the high salaries of financial public enterprises, which can cause public discomfort, must be accompanied.”