Jeonbuk top K League's payroll for 9th consecutive year

All News 15:34 December 30, 2022

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Yonhap) -- They may have fallen short of winning a championship this year, but Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors led South Korean football in payroll yet again.

The Korea Professional Football League (K League) released salary figures for 11 of the 12 clubs in the top-flight K League 1 on Friday, with an exception of the military club, Gimcheon Sangmu FC.

In this file photo from Oct. 30, 2022, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors players and coaches celebrate after winning the FA Cup title over FC Seoul at Jeonju World Cup Stadium in Jeonju, 200 kilometers south of Seoul. (Yonhap)

Jeonbuk were the biggest spenders for the ninth consecutive season, having doled out a little over 19.7 billion won (US$15.6 million). The K League said the figures included base pay and bonuses paid out for matches played, victories and goals scored.

Ulsan Hyundai FC finished second in the payroll at 17.6 billion won. On the field, though, Ulsan held off Jeonbuk to win their first K League 1 title since 2005 and end Jeonbuk's run of consecutive championships at five.

Jeju United ranked third in total salary at 12.3 billion won. They were fifth in the league tables.

Players in the K League 1 made 282.1 million won on average. Homegrown players earned 231 million won on average, compared to 862.7 million won for foreign players.

The five highest-paid South Korean players were all from either Jeonbuk or Ulsan, led by Jeonbuk defender Kim Jin-su at 1.47 billion won.

Gerso Fernandes of Jeju was the top earner among foreign players at 1.7 billion won.