Song Hye-kyo proves she is one of the top actresses in South Korea and her salary and endorsement deals can prove that. With the huge gap between the male and female actors' wages, it looks like Song Joong-ki's ex-wife will end this difference.
It cannot be denied that Song Hye-kyo's every project turns out a massive hit. This makes her an A-list star with a high brand value, receiving a far bigger compensation than everyone thought.
The 40-year-old star just broke a new salary record, getting ₩200 million or about $168,000 per episode, Koreaboo noted. As her K-drama series usually has 16 episodes, it means her salary for a season can reach as high as ₩3.20 billion or $2.69 million.
The South Korean actress has a new series on SBS called "Now, We Are Breaking Up." The show had only started a few weeks ago, marking her much-awaited TV comeback after the 2018 K-drama "Encounter."
For her last TV show with Park Bo-gum, she, reportedly, earned ₩100 million or $84,000 per episode. This only shows that her current acting fee of ₩200 million dramatically increases to 50% in just three years.
This is already closing in with the male actors' salary in South Korea. The country's top actor Kim Soo-hyun, reportedly, receives ₩500 million or $420,000 per episode.
So, in no time, this gap would finally be broken by Song Hye-kyo and other highest-paid actresses in the business, like Jun Ji-hyun, who also receives ₩200 million or $168,000 per episode. Meanwhile, on top of the "Descendant of the Sun" actress' huge acting salary, she also has million-dollar endorsement deals.
TMI News revealed that Song Hye-kyo was ranked 12 on the highest-paid celebrity brand ambassadors list, receiving at least ₩900 million or $1.1 million to endorse a product, per Today Online. Her sponsored posts, like what she did for Fendi, cost ₩500 million or $650,000.
This makes her a perfect fit for the name endorsement queen. She now has 12.4 million followers on Instagram and her paid post is always worth it.
For example, the sales of her endorsed Laneige BB cushion surged after she used it in the 2013 drama "That Winter, The Wind Blows." It even sold about 1 million units in just a year.
The same thing happened when the said brand sold 160,000 lipsticks in just a month after she used it in "Descendants of the Sun" in 2016. Anyhow, Song Hye-kyo is very selective of the brands and products she uses and endorses.
