In the first half of this year, the "salary king" among insurance industry leaders was Chair Chung Mong-yoon of Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance(001450).
According to semiannual reports of major insurers posted on the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 14th, Chung received a total of 1.83 billion won in the first half of this year, including 497 million won in salary, 1.184 billion won in bonus, 147 million won in stock-based compensation, and 20 million won in other earned income. Compared with 1.551 billion won in the first half of last year, it rose 18%.
The person with the next highest pay after Chung was Kim Jung-hyun, CEO of Meritz Fire & Marine. Kim received a total of 1.7975 billion won, including 248.8 million won in salary, 1.54 billion won in bonus, and 8.7 million won in other earned income. In the first half of last year as well, the amount was 1.7975 billion won, the same level of compensation.
Gu Bon-uk, CEO of KB손해보험, received a total of 1.215 billion won, including 167.3 million won in salary and 1.048 billion won in bonus. Compared with 308 million won in the first half of last year, it increased 294.5%. The bonuses paid this year reflected short- and long-term performance pay based on the 2024–2025 evaluations.
Vice Chair Kwon Hyuk-woong of Hanwha Life Insurance(088350) received a total of 1.07 billion won, including 761 million won in salary and 305 million won in bonus. Compared with the 763 million won received in the first half of last year by former Vice Chair Yeo Seung-joo, it is 40.2% higher. Shin Chang-jae, CEO and chair of the board of Kyobo Life Insurance, received a total of 907 million won. That included 237 million won in salary and 390 million won in bonus. It fell 1.5% from 921 million won in the first half of last year.
Hong Won-hak, CEO of Samsung Life Insurance(032830), received 859 million won, up 18.2% from a year earlier. That included 606 million won in salary and 77 million won in bonus. Lee Mun-hwa, CEO of Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance(000810), received a total of 765 million won, including 379 million won in salary, 63 million won in bonus, and long-term performance incentives. It increased 24.8% from 613 million won in the first half of last year.
Jung Jong-pyo, CEO of DB Insurance(005830), received a total of 646 million won, up 5% from 615 million won in the first half of last year. He was paid 201 million won in salary, 281 million won in bonus, and 157 million won in deferred compensation. Cheon Sang-young, CEO of Shinhan Life, received a total of 231 million won in the first half of this year, including 224 million won in salary and 7 million won in other earned income. In the first half of last year, former CEO Lee Young-jong received 663 million won, including 239 million won in salary and 421 million won in bonus.