According to data from HYBE's periodic reports submitted to the Financial Supervisory Agency of Korea, the average remuneration per employee of the company in the first half of 2026 reached 83 million won (about 60,000 USD), a significant increase compared to 54 million won in the same period last year.
Notably, the gap between male and female personnel is quite large.
HYBE has 271 official male employees and 26 contract male employees. The group's average income reached 158 million won (about 114,000 USD).
Meanwhile, the company has 603 full-time female employees and 54 contract female employees, meaning the number of female employees is more than double that of males. However, the average income of the female group is only 49 million won (about 35,000 USD).
Thus, based on the published average figures, the income of male staff is 3 times higher than female staff.
The gap also tends to increase. Compared to the same period last year, the average income of female staff only increased by about 2 million won, while the number of male staff increased more than doubled. Compared to three years ago, the average of female staff even decreased by about 6 million won.
The total amount paid also shows the difference. Although the number of female employees is significantly larger, the total remuneration for men in the first half of the year reached about 45.77 billion won, while the figure for women was 30.96 billion won.
Larger gap than other Kpop companies
HYBE's data is noteworthy when placed next to three other major entertainment companies in Korea.
At SM Entertainment, the average income in the first half of the year for male and female personnel was 76.3 million won and 49.88 million won respectively.
YG Entertainment recorded corresponding levels of 68 million won and 39 million won. Meanwhile, JYP Entertainment has the lowest gap among the four companies, with male staff receiving an average of 84.49 million won, and female staff receiving 68.18 million won.
However, the average figures are not enough to conclude that HYBE pays different salaries for male and female employees holding the same position.
One reason for the sharp increase in HYBE's average is said to be that the remuneration of some male leaders is included in human resources statistics.
Four unregistered leaders including COO Kim Tae Ho, CCO Park Tae Hee, CFO Lee Kyung Joon and CLO Jung Jin Soo are said to have received a total of 24.3 billion won in the first half of 2026, equivalent to an average of more than 6 billion won each.
This income includes stock-based bonuses. With large payouts and few recipients, bonuses can boost the average income of the entire male workforce.
HYBE denies gender income discrimination
HYBE's leadership structure also shows that men still account for the majority. According to the company's sustainable development report, the number of female leaders increased from 6 in 2023 to 9 in 2024 and 10 in 2025. In the same period, the number of male leaders was 29, 30 and 25 respectively.
Faced with debates about income figures, HYBE denies that the company applies a different salary policy based on gender.
HYBE representatives affirmed that there is no salary gap between employees based on gender and the performance-based salary policy is applied equally to men and women.
According to the company, the main reason for the difference in average figures is the one-time stock bonuses for some long-serving leaders. Because most of the people who receive this high remuneration are men, the average of the male personnel group is significantly pushed up.
Therefore, the figure of 158 million won compared to 49 million won reflects a large gap in reported average income, but it cannot itself prove that HYBE pays men higher than women when they take on equivalent jobs.
