Hyundai Motor, Lotte chairs rank as S.Korea’s highest-paid heads

Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun was ranked as South Korea’s highest-paid business owner in 2022 thanks to the group's record-high profits, earning 10.6 billion won ($8 million), up 1.5% from the previous year.

But Chung will likely be soon replaced by Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin as the highest-paid head of a family-run conglomerate in the country.

Shin has received 5.5 billion won in 2022 salaries from three group units year-to-date, but he is still set to pocket compensation from four other subsidiaries that have not yet disclosed 2022 results.

Back in 2021, he was paid 18 billion won, the biggest amount of annual salary for a South Korean conglomerate head.

By comparison, Samsung Electronics Co. Chairman Jay Y. Lee has led the country’s biggest conglomerate without pay for the sixth straight year.

After being convicted in 2017 of bribing former President Park Geun-hye who was impeached the same year, Lee announced he would work for free.

For Hyundai Motor, Chairman Chung’s 2022 pay breaks down into 4 billion won in base salary and 3 billion won in bonuses from Hyundai Motor; and 3.6 billion won from Hyundai Mobis Co.

The automaker posted a 30% surge on-year in operating profit to a record 9.8 trillion won in 2022.

Other highly paid business owners include GS Engineering & Construction Co. Chairman Huh Chang-soo and Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Won-tae.

Huh earned 6.1 billion won in 2022, including bonuses of 3.7 billion won.

Cho, also known as Walter Cho, received 5.2 billion won from Korean Air Lines Co. and Hanjin KAL Corp., up almost 50% from the year before.

Write to Han-Shin Park at phs@hankyung.com

Yeonhee Kim edited this article