” 400 million?” Netizens Puzzled By The Identity Of The Idol-Turned-Actor Charging Staggering Fees

Despite the glamour and global appeal of the Korean entertainment industry, there is little clarity about its pay scales. Idols, actors, and entertainers all get paid according to different parameters, which makes fans even more intrigued with figuring out how much their particular celebrity might get paid for specific projects.

TV personality Kim Gu Ra recently made a shocking revelation, highlighting exactly how high certain actors can get paid in the industry. On June 2, Kim posted a video on his Gu Ra Cheol YouTube channel, where he has garnered over 300,000 subscribers in the past few years. In this latest video, he talked about the challenges faced by the film industry amidst increasing costs these days.

According to Kim Gu Ra, among other costs, actors’ pay has increased exponentially recently, since with big stars, casting them means borrowing their name and reputation for the project. He then mentioned a specific instance where an idol-turned-actor demanded a whopping ₩400 million KRW (about $307,000 USD) per episode for their appearance.

According to Kim, this individual is a global idol with a stable fanbase. This immense popularity is the leading cause of their staggeringly high fee.

Kim also explained that the financial strains on the film industry recently had increased unexpectedly. Producing a single episode of a TV show is also an expensive affair these days. Talking numbers, Kim revealed that filming a variety show today costs around ₩160 million KRW (about $123,000 USD) per episode, while filming in external locations can cost up from ₩130 million KRW (about $99,900 USD) to ₩150 million KRW (about $115,000 USD) per episode.

Though Kim didn’t mention the actor’s name during the video, netizens couldn’t help guessing who he might be talking about. Interestingly though, most of them avoided mentioning any names either, furthering the mystifying curiosity around the person’s identity.

• “Looking at the actors who have been cast recently, I think I know who it is.”
  —”Who is it?”
• “Wow, who asks for 400 million?”
• “Wow.”
• “This has to be some overwhelming superstar.”
• “Who is this, though?”

• “After seeing this, I immediately thought of just one person, LOL.”
• “An idol-turned-actor, huh…?”
• “This is going to spark so many rumors again.”
• “Am I the only one who has no idea…?
• “But there are so many idols who act. How is everyone coming up with ‘that one person’?”