Korean government moves to curtail actor pay, but industry remains wary

As the Korean government unveils a new plan to rein in skyrocketing actors' fees, the initiative has been met with caution from industry officials who largely support its aim but remain uncertain whether it will prove effective in practice.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Film Council recently signed a trilateral agreement with production companies and talent agencies to place a cap on actors’ pay.

Under the agreement, government-subsidized mid-budget films with net production costs between 2 billion won ($1.36 million) and 8 billion won will be encouraged to keep actors’ fees below 10 percent of those costs.

The measure is based on voluntary cooperation rather than binding rules, according to government officials.

To prevent the initiative from becoming a one-off measure, the government also announced plans to form a consultative body to discuss ways to improve production conditions across the film industry.

The signing ceremony was attended by representatives from major talent agencies, including BH Entertainment, Management SOOP and J-Wide Company, along ...