Who Is the 'Salary King' Among the Four Major Bank CEOs in the First Half of This Year?

Lee Jae-geun, KB Kookmin Bank President, Receives 1.429 Billion KRW Including Bonus

Lee Jae-geun, CEO of KB Kookmin Bank, was found to have received the highest compensation among the CEOs of the four major banks (KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori) in the first half of this year.

According to the semi-annual reports of each company on the 14th, CEO Lee received a total compensation of 1.429 billion KRW, including a salary of 350 million KRW, bonuses of 1.074 billion KRW, and other labor income of 5 million KRW in the first half of the year. The annual salary is paid in 1/12 installments. The bonus amount includes a short-term performance bonus of 228 million KRW paid in the first quarter of this year reflecting performance from January 1 to December 31 of last year, and a long-term performance bonus of 846 million KRW reflecting performance from January 1, 2022, to December 31 of last year.

Lee Jae-geun, President of KB Kookmin Bank

Following CEO Lee, Lee Seung-yeol of Hana Bank received compensation of 910 million KRW. His salary was 349 million KRW, and bonuses amounted to 552 million KRW. Similar to CEO Lee Jae-geun, this included a short-term performance bonus of 361 million KRW based on last year’s performance evaluation and a long-term performance bonus of 191 million KRW based on performance-linked stocks granted in 2020.

Jung Sang-hyuk, CEO of Shinhan Bank, received a total compensation of 824 million KRW in the first half, including a salary of 410 million KRW, bonuses of 413 million KRW, and other labor income of 1 million KRW. CEO Jung’s bonus amount consisted entirely of the annual performance bonus paid in the first quarter of this year based on last year’s annual performance.

Cho Byung-kyu, CEO of Woori Bank, received compensation of 656 million KRW in the first half. His salary was 349 million KRW, and other labor income was 1 million KRW. The bonus amount of 307 million KRW included a short-term performance bonus for his tenure as bank CEO last year and a long-term performance bonus for his tenure as an executive in 2020.

Woori Bank provided a more detailed explanation than other banks regarding the reason CEO Cho received performance bonuses. In its semi-annual report, Woori Bank explained that CEO Cho received the short-term performance bonus because he “pursued the rebuilding of the corporate finance powerhouse by establishing specialized branches in industrial complexes and public corporation areas related to non-financial indicators,” describing various achievements.