Cynthia J. Kim (The Korean Herald), The Asia News Network, Seoul, South Korea | Sun, 12/25/2011 3:18 PM
The number of people making a living off the entertainment industry in South Korea surged 40 per cent last year, a sign that more wannabe stars are betting on the booming industry.
Those who registered themselves as an actor, singer, model or a TV personality exceeded 170,000 in 2010, the National Tax Service said, posting a much higher increase than the average 6-percent gain in the number of people joining the salary-earning workforce.
Those who categorized themselves as actors grew to 28,000, up almost 47 per cent from 19,000 in 2009. Self-described models surged to 14,000, up 73 per cent from 9,800 of 2009. The number of singers now stands at 11,500, up 55 per cent from 7,400 in 2009.
The surge in the entertainment industry is much higher than increases elsewhere. The total number of freelancers and self-employed people increased 10 percent in the same time, to 3,739,000. Salary earning workers were tallied at 15,180,000 last year, up 6 percent from 14,290,000 the year before.
The state agency said the surge into the entertainment industry has diluted the already squeezed income level.
“The industry has enjoyed a continued inflow of talented young people but most of them, especially actors and models, are earning less and less,” NTS said. The average take-home pay for models declined 23 per cent to 3.8 million won a year, almost half of the lowest cost of living set by the government.
Actors earned 25 per cent less on average last year, 13.7 million won. Pay for singers and songwriters decreased 11 per cent and 8 per cent each to 4.4 million won and 6.6 million won, below the 6.4 million won, the country’s lowest cost of living.
“Take-home pay for them could be even lower since some of them have agencies to share their profit,” an industry official said.
