Ulsan HD FC defender Kim Young-gwon, the most valuable player of the 2023 K League 1 season, was also the highest-paid South Korean player in the top domestic league, data showed Thursday.

The Korea Professional Football League released salary figures for clubs and individual players Thursday.

Kim came out on top with 1.53 billion won (US$1.2 million) for 2023, a figure that includes his base salary and bonus payments for each appearance, victory and goal or assist.

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors defender Kim Jin-su was next at 1.42 billion won.

Among foreign players, Daegu FC star Cesinha led the way at 1.55 billion won, 30 million won ahead of Ulsan midfielder Valeri Qazaishvili.

Jeonbuk topped the K League 1 payroll for the 10th consecutive season, after spending nearly 19.9 billion won on salaries, slightly up from 19.7 billion won for 2022.

Ulsan, who won their second consecutive title, ranked second in payroll at 18.3 billion won. Ulsan had the highest average salary per player at 577.7 million won.

Spe
nding didn’t necessarily translate to on-field success. Jeonbuk finished in fourth place, their worst performance since 2008. FC Seoul were the third-biggest spenders with a 13.2 billion-won payroll, but they finished in seventh place in the tables. Jeju United were fourth in payroll but ninth in the league tables.

On average, a K League 1 player made about 295.5 million won in 2023, compared with 282.1 million won in 2022.

Source: Yonhap News Agency