Jun Ji-hyun is the richest Korean actress as of November 2026, with a net worth we estimate at about $100 million, most of it in Seoul buildings. This ranking covers South Korean actresses whose fortunes come mainly from acting, advertising and the property they bought with both. Won figures are converted at about 1,335 won to the dollar, the November 2026 rate.
Korean stars rarely talk about money, but they cannot hide a building purchase: property deals are registered, and the entertainment press reports every one. That paper trail, plus published fees, is what this list is built on.
| Rank | Name | Net worth (USD) | Main source of wealth |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Kim Ji-won | $18 million | Drama fees, Gangnam building |
| 9 | Gong Hyo-jin | $20 million | Drama fees, Mapo building company |
| 8 | Ha Ji-won | $22 million | Acting, Seongsu building sale |
| 7 | Park Min-young | $25 million | Drama fees, endorsements |
| 6 | Ko So-young | $28 million | Seoul buildings, advertising |
| 5 | Han Ji-min | $30 million | Drama fees, long-running brand deals |
| 4 | Son Ye-jin | $35 million | Film and drama fees, Gangnam property |
| 3 | Kim Tae-hee | $40 million | Advertising, Gangnam property |
| 2 | Song Hye-kyo | $45 million | Drama fees, luxury brand deals, Hannam building |
| 1 | Jun Ji-hyun | $100 million | Advertising, Seoul real estate |
Korea’s 10 richest actresses, from 10 to 1
10. Kim Ji-won: $18 million
Kim Ji-won spent years as the scene stealer before she became the lead. She was the army doctor in Descendants of the Sun, the would-be announcer in Fight for My Way and the restless office worker in My Liberation Notes. Then Queen of Tears in 2024 became the highest-rated drama in tvN’s history, and her price went up overnight.
She had already started buying. In June 2021 she paid 6.3 billion won for a six-story building in Gangnam, borrowing about 55% of the price, which is the standard playbook for Korean celebrity landlords. Our figure counts her equity in that building, which has risen with Gangnam prices, plus her fees and advertising since Queen of Tears.
9. Gong Hyo-jin: $20 million
Gong Hyo-jin is the queen of the romantic comedy that makes you cry, from Pasta to It’s Okay, That’s Love to When the Camellia Blooms, which won her the Baeksang grand prize in 2020. She married singer Kevin Oh in 2022.
Her property play runs through ROY714, a company she half-owns. It bought a building in Seogyo-dong, near Hongdae, for 6.3 billion won in January 2016, and by 2023 had it listed for 16 billion won. The valuation takes her half of that company, her drama fees and her brand work, with loans taken off.
8. Ha Ji-won: $22 million
Ha Ji-won has been an action heroine (Damo, Haeundae), a stuntwoman in love (Secret Garden) and a Mongol empress (Empress Ki). She has also, unusually for this list, sold at the top.
In March 2020 her agency, Haewadal Entertainment, bought a building in Seongsu-dong for 10 billion won. Early reports called it a dud because much of it sat empty. In November 2025 she sold it for 18.5 billion won, a gain of about 8.5 billion won. That sale, plus two decades of leading roles, is the backbone of our estimate.
7. Park Min-young: $25 million
Park Min-young has a gift for dramas that turn into memes. What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim in 2018 was a regional hit, and Marry My Husband in 2024 was one of the most-watched Korean series on Amazon Prime Video worldwide. She followed it with Confidence Queen in 2025.
Her per-episode fee sits near the top of the market, and she is a regular face for cosmetics and fashion brands. Unlike most names here, she has no widely reported building purchase. We estimate her at about $25 million from fees and endorsements alone, below the roughly $30 million some published estimates give her.
6. Ko So-young: $28 million
Ko So-young was one of the defining stars of the 1990s, opposite Jung Woo-sung in Beat. She married actor Jang Dong-gun in 2010 and has made few films since. She kept the advertising money, though, and turned it into one of the most talked-about property portfolios in Korean entertainment.
Korean media report that she owns buildings in Cheongdam-dong and Songjeong-dong, and a January 2026 report put the couple’s buildings at more than 40 billion won combined, including a Hannam-dong building owned by her husband. When she toured the Hannam-dong building on her YouTube channel that month, it became national news. We count only her own buildings and three decades of advertising savings, not Jang’s property, and with no public figure for her personal share this is one of the softer numbers here.
5. Han Ji-min: $30 million
Few earners in Korean television are steadier than Han Ji-min. She won a Baeksang award for The Light in Your Eyes in 2019, starred in Our Blues in 2022 and led Love Scout in 2025, a big streaming hit. She has also held some of the longest-running beauty and fashion contracts in the business.
No major building deals of hers have been reported, so we built this figure from 20 years of fees and endorsements. Published estimates put her at about $40 million. We took a more careful line, and this is one of the softer numbers on the list.
4. Son Ye-jin: $35 million
Son Ye-jin was Korea’s melodrama queen long before Crash Landing on You made her famous worldwide in 2019. The Classic and A Moment to Remember made her a star across Asia in the early 2000s, and in 2025 she returned to the big screen in Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice. She married her Crash Landing co-star Hyun Bin in 2022.
In 2020 she picked up a Sinsa-dong property in Gangnam for 16 billion won, paying about 4 billion won in cash and borrowing the rest. She also owns a villa in Samseong-dong reported at about 6 billion won. Property surveys put the couple’s real estate at about 40 billion won. Our number is her own share: her buildings minus loans, plus two decades of film and drama fees.
3. Kim Tae-hee: $40 million
Kim Tae-hee studied at Seoul National University and became a household name with the spy drama Iris in 2009. For more than a decade she was among the most expensive commercial models in Korea.
She has also made money in property under her own name. A Yeoksam-dong building she purchased in 2014 for 13.2 billion won went for 20.3 billion won in 2021, a gain of about 7.1 billion won, and in November 2025 she sold a unit at Hannam The Hill for about 12.8 billion won, three times the 4.2 billion won she paid in cash in 2018. She and her husband, the singer Rain, are often called Korea’s richest celebrity couple, and their biggest asset is a building near Gangnam Station bought for 92 billion won in 2021.
Rain owns 60% of that building personally, and the other 40% sits in the couple’s company. We credit her with half of the company’s share after loans, add the Hannam sale proceeds and an allowance for her savings, and get about $40 million. Published estimates run higher, often because they count the couple’s property as hers.
2. Song Hye-kyo: $45 million
Song Hye-kyo has peaked three times. Full House made her a star at home in 2004, Descendants of the Sun made her one across Asia in 2016, and the Netflix revenge drama The Glory made her one everywhere else in 2022 and 2023.
She is one of the best-paid actresses per episode and has been a long-time face of luxury jewelry and fashion houses. In 2021 she bought a building near Hannam The Hill for 19.5 billion won, and by 2024 it was estimated at about 25.5 billion won. She also owns homes in Seoul and New York.
That building is the only one of her assets with a published value. We take it net of an assumed loan, add her homes, and allow about 29 billion won for savings from fees and brand contracts, which comes to about $45 million. Estimates for her range from about $20 million to $60 million, and we stay in the middle because her ambassador fees are not disclosed.
1. Jun Ji-hyun: $100 million
Jun Ji-hyun has been Korea’s top advertising face for most of the past 25 years. My Sassy Girl made her a star in 2001, and My Love from the Star in 2013 made her the most in-demand commercial face in Asia. She also led two of Korea’s biggest heist and action films, The Thieves and Assassination.
Her real talent may be property. She paid 50.5 billion won for a commercial building in Gangseo District in 2022 and 13 billion won in cash for a penthouse at Acro Seoul Forest in 2023. In early 2026 she completed a 46.8 billion won purchase of two buildings and a plot of land in Seongsu-dong. Korean media estimate her total real estate at close to 150 billion won.
We took that property total, subtracted about 56 billion won of reported and estimated loans, including roughly 28 billion won against the Seongsu deal, and added about 40 billion won of cash from her fees and endorsements. That gives about $100 million. Her husband’s finance career is not counted.
Special mentions
- Lee Young-ae: the Jewel in the Palace star is often listed near $90 million, but much of that is her husband’s business wealth, so she stays outside the ten.
- IU: Lee Ji-eun is now a major actress, with When Life Gives You Tangerines in 2025, but her fortune of about $45 million came mostly from music, so she belongs on a K-pop list.
What Korea’s richest actresses have in common
The pattern is almost comically consistent: earn in a burst, then buy a building. A hit drama brings two or three years of advertising money, and that cash goes straight into Gangnam, Seongsu or Hannam property, usually with a large bank loan on top. That is why this list moves with Seoul real estate prices as much as with ratings.
Advertising matters more than acting fees. Jun Ji-hyun, Kim Tae-hee and Song Hye-kyo all spent years as top commercial faces, and those contracts pay more than a full drama season. Timing matters too. The top three all became famous before 2010, giving their buildings 15 years to grow. Kim Ji-won and Park Min-young have bigger streaming audiences than any of them had at the same age, but less time for their money to compound.
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FAQ
Who is the richest Korean actress?
Jun Ji-hyun is the richest Korean actress, with an estimated net worth of about $100 million, built largely from advertising and a Seoul property portfolio Korean media value at close to 150 billion won, less the loans against it.
How much is Song Hye-kyo worth?
We estimate Song Hye-kyo’s net worth at about $45 million, from drama fees, luxury brand deals and a Hannam-dong building she bought for 19.5 billion won in 2021.
Why do Korean actresses buy so many buildings?
Their income comes in short bursts after a hit, and Seoul commercial buildings offer rent and long-term gains. Bank loans let them buy bigger buildings than their cash alone would allow.
Is Son Ye-jin richer than Hyun Bin?
On our numbers, slightly. We estimate Son Ye-jin at about $35 million and Hyun Bin at about $25 million, though the couple’s property is often reported as a combined total of about 40 billion won.
Who is the richest young Korean actress?
Kim Ji-won, the star of Queen of Tears, is the youngest on our list, at 10th with an estimated $18 million.
How much do top Korean actresses earn per episode?
The highest-paid actresses are reported to earn the equivalent of about $150,000 to $300,000 per episode, with advertising contracts often worth more than a full drama season.
How we estimate net worth
Our estimates are based on public reporting, company valuations, and deal and earnings figures all compiled in an internal valuation model. They are approximate, and figures change over time as new information emerges.
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Last updated: November 2026.
