Cho Won-tae, chairman of Hanjin Group, received a salary of 9.224 billion won in the first half of this year. This amount is over 40% higher than the same period last year and nearly matches the annual salary he received for the entire previous year.
According to the semi-annual reports of Hanjin KAL, Korean Air, and JIN AIR released on the 19th, Chairman Cho received a total of 9.224 billion won from the three companies. This is an increase of 42.8% from the 6.458 billion won he received during the same period last year. However, the previous year's first-half salary only accounted for the share from Korean Air and Hanjin KAL. Chairman Cho has served as an executive at JIN AIR since April of last year, and his first-half salary was below 500 million won, making it exempt from disclosure.
By company, he received a total of 4.329 billion won from Hanjin KAL, including a salary of 2.440 billion won and bonuses of 1.925 billion won, an increase of 56.4% compared to the first half of last year. From Korean Air, he received a total of 3.823 billion won, comprising a salary of 2.331 billion won and bonuses of 1.492 billion won, reflecting a 3.6% increase from the same period last year. He received a total of 1.072 billion won from JIN AIR, which combines a salary of 637 million won and bonuses of 435 million won.
In the case of Hanjin KAL, it appears that the comprehensive evaluation of the management performance and roles of major subsidiaries, as well as the performance bonus based on the acquisition of Asiana Airlines, were factored into the compensation. Korean Air effectively paid encouragement funds to all employees as part of the integration of Asiana Airlines subsidiaries, following a labor-management agreement, while the compensation for JIN AIR was determined considering the scale and responsibilities of the integrated low-cost carrier (LCC) business.
A Korean Air official explained, "The monthly salary is calculated based on the director remuneration payment criteria, finalized through a series of processes including prior review by the compensation committee and approval by the board of directors."
Accordingly, Chairman Cho's total compensation this year is expected to far exceed the previous year's level. He received a salary of 10.21273 billion won last year.