Lead Vs Supporting Actors — K-Drama’s Enormous Pay Gap Raises Concerns

Thanks to the global popularity of K-Dramas, the success of a Korean TV series often proves monumental for an actor’s career. But does the pay match the hype? A recent report has raised some concerns in this regard.

On October 24, Lee Sang Heon, the Chairman of Korea’s Cultural, Sports, and Tourism Committee, presented a report submitted by the Korean Broadcasting Actors Union and the Performing Arts Rights Association of South Korea that reflected an enormous pay gap between lead and supporting actors in the entertainment industry.

The report is based on data from nine Korean dramas broadcasted in the past two years. The most shocking disparity is observed in SBS’s Payback, which aired in 2023. The lead actor, Lee Sun Kyun, received ₩200 million KRW (about $148,000 USD) per episode, while the supporting cast’s fee per episode averaged ₩100,000 KRW (about $74.00 USD). The difference between the lead actor’s pay and the supporting actors reached an astonishing 2,000 times.

Another SBS show, One Dollar Lawyer (2022), saw a very high pay gap between the lead and the supporting cast. While Nam Goong Min was paid around ₩160 million KRW (about $118,000 USD) per episode, the least-paid supporting actors received ₩200,000 KRW (about $148 USD), making the pay gap 800 times.

JTBC’s controversial yet successful K-Drama Snowdrop (2021) also showed a similar pattern. Lead actors Jung Hae In and Jisoo from BLACKPINK received ₩110 million KRW (about $81,400 USD) per episode, which is 733 times more than the supporting cast, who were paid around ₩150,000 KRW (about $111 USD).

MBC’s 2022 show Golden Spoon had almost the same level of pay gap, with the leads earning ₩70.0 million KRW (about $51,800 USD) per episode while the supporting actors received ₩10,000 KRW (about $7.40 USD). The pay difference in this case was 700 times.

While these statistics are shocking, it is also natural to speculate that the pay gap is probably proportionate to the amount of work hours as well as the brand value each actor brings in. However, the reality is entirely different. The primary reason why this report has raised alarms is because the supporting actors are vulnerable to getting paid disproportionately compared to the hours they put in.

The typical minimum pay in the entertainment industry, as highlighted by the report, edges around ₩20,000 KRW (about $14.80 USD) per episode. But on average, one episode requires around 2.63 days to film, and the average working hours for actors in a day, including waiting time, is 9.99 hours.

Since K-Drama productions usually go for a per-episode payment contract without specifying the working hours or conditions, it is very likely that supporting actors get paid below the minimum wage without accounting for additional expenses such as costumes.

This problem, however, is unique to the Korean entertainment industry since other countries typically pay actors based on the filming time. Lee Sang Heon advocated establishing a minimum appearance fee threshold for Korean TV shows to battle this labor issue. It will help provide actors with a standard basic income. In addition, Lee also called for structural changes to better protect the labor and survival rights of supporting actors, who are currently being exploited in an unfair payment system.