Jun Ji-hyun, star of The Legend of the Blue Sea and cinema hits My Sassy Girl and The Thieves, is one of Korea’s best paid actresses – what does she spend her money on?
South Korea’s Jun Ji-hyun rise to fame began back in 2001 with the film My Sassy Girl and continued with roles in several blockbuster films and series including the 2016-2017 The Legend of the Blue Sea. Based on data gathered by The Toplists, today she asks for a cool US$84,000 per episode for K-dramas.
With Jun having that sort of earning power, we look at how she spends and manages her wealth after more than 20 successful years in the acting business.
Jun Ji-hyun began her career as a model when a friend introduced her to a photographer. She made her debut on the cover of Ecole magazine.
In 2001, she gained international prominence in the breakout film My Sassy Girl, the highest-grossing Korean comedy of all time.
After six years of film roles and commercial appearances, she started investing her earnings in property. According to Soompi, she bought a US$7.1 million five-story building in Nonhyeon-dong, Seoul in October 2007.
Hollywood was calling and so she did a stint in Blood: The Last Vampire and also made history as the first Korean actress to grace the pages of US Vogue. On her return to Korea, she was cast in The Thieves, one of the country’s highest-grossing films, which earned US$86 million at the box office.
Then she returned to the TV screen where she was paired with Kim Soo-hyun in the fantasy romance My Love from the Star.
Before and after the series, she continued her property investments. In April 2013, she bought a US$4.8 million two-story building in Inchon-dong.
In February 2014, she revealed she owned a building in Nonhyeon-dong with a market value of US$14 million. Four months later, she acquired a US$6.2 million Hyundai housing complex in Samseong-dong. In May 2015, she bought a US$3.6 million, two-story building in the same area.
While making a mark in real estate, she has also donated to charity. In 2015, Jun donated US$442,830 to children of single mothers on behalf of fashion brand She’s Miss. The same year, upon the success of her movie Assassination, she donated 500 lunchboxes to impoverished families.
The success of The Legend of the Blue Sea in 2016 solidified her net-worth with endorsements. Soompi reported she filmed 14 commercials, earning US$11.9 million. She took a pay cheque of US$852,000 per commercial and US$85,200 per episode of the drama.
Then in 2017, she made her heftiest investment: reportedly buying a building in Gangnam at US$28.5 million, paid in cash.
After four years, Jun Ji-hyun just made her comeback in the final episode of Netflix’s Kingdom. She also donated US$84,000 to support patients infected with coronavirus.
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She isn’t shy to spend big on real estate, buying a US$28.5 million building in Gangnam in 2017, but she also gives to charity and recently donated to Covid-19 relief