Forward Lee Seung-woo (27), who helped Jeonbuk Hyundai reclaim the K League 1 title for the first time in four years, has emerged as the highest-paid domestic player for the 2025 season.
According to the 2025 K League salary data released by the Korea Professional Football League on December 30, Lee earned 1.59 billion won ($1.2 million), the highest among domestic players.
Goalkeeper Cho Hyun-woo of Ulsan, last year's top domestic earner at 1.46 billion won, dropped to third place, while Ulsan defender Kim Young-kwon moved up to second with 1.48 billion won. Jeonbuk defender Park Jin-seob (1.23 billion won) and Daejeon Hana Citizen striker Joo Min-kyu (1.12 billion won) ranked fourth and fifth.
Salaries were calculated based on actual payments including base salary and various allowances such as appearance bonuses, win bonuses, goal contribution bonuses, and other options. The allowances included payments from the 2025 K League season, Korea Cup, and AFC Champions League.
Among foreign players, Daegu FC forward Cesinha earned the highest salary at 2.1 billion won, followed by Jesse Lingard (1.95 billion won), who parted ways with FC Seoul, Incheon United's Mugosa (1.54 billion won), and Jeonbuk striker Gustavo (1.34 billion won).
The total salary expenditure by 11 K League clubs, excluding military team Gimcheon Sangmu, was 136.81 billion won for the 2025 season, down 2.77 billion won from the previous year.
The salary calculation included all players registered with each club at least once during the entire 2025 season. Players who joined or left mid-season were prorated according to their actual tenure, with players belonging to a club for half the season counted as 0.5.
The average salary per K League 1 player was 311.77 million won. The average for domestic players was 237.82 million won, while foreign players averaged 835.99 million won.
By club, Ulsan had the highest average salary per player at 643.59 million won, followed by Daejeon at 509.97 million won and Seoul at 410.78 million won.
The total salary for 14 K League 2 clubs was 72.97 billion won, with Incheon topping the list at 10.76 billion won. Suwon Samsung (9.57 billion won) and Chungnam Asan (6.66 billion won) ranked second and third.
