Last year, the average salary of employees at the four major commercial banks in Korea approached 120 million won. Among bank employees, there were cases of severance pay reaching as high as 1.2 billion won.
On the 23rd, according to the '2024 business report' disclosed by the four major commercial banks in Korea, including KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank, and Woori Bank, the average salary for executives and employees was 118 million won, up 1.72% from 116 million won in 2023.
Among the four major commercial banks, the highest salary was found at Hana Bank, with an average salary of 120 million won. KB Kookmin Bank and Shinhan Bank had average salaries of 119 million won each, while Woori Bank had the lowest at 114 million won. In 2023, KB Kookmin Bank's employees had the highest average salary, but last year, Hana Bank surpassed it.
When divided by gender, the average salary for Namsung employees was 134.75 million won, which was 30.25 million won higher than that of female employees (104.5 million won). This is attributed to the shorter tenure of female employees compared to their male counterparts. Additionally, the higher proportion of part-time workers among women contributed to the lower average salary.
Last year, most of the employees who made it to the top 5 of total compensation, earning over 500 million won at each commercial bank, were retirees. A retiree from Hana Bank received a total of 1.197 billion won, including salary, bonuses, and special retirement pay. This is comparable to the salary of former Hana Bank President Lee Seung-yeol (1.252 billion won). The other four individuals in the top compensation list also received compensation in the billion won range, including severance pay.
At KB Kookmin Bank, former President Lee Jae-geun received 2.62 billion won. Three executive vice presidents also received between 1.051 billion to 1.144 billion won as they retired.
The highest salary at Shinhan Bank was held by President Jeong Sang-hyeok (1.235 billion won). The next four individuals were all retirees, who received between 832 million to 992 million won as severance pay, holding positions such as center heads and branch managers.
Former President Cho Byung-kyu of Woori Bank received 1.068 billion won, including salary, bonuses, and severance pay. Four employees who opted for voluntary retirement at the Director General level also left with between 835 million to 871 million won.