Employees at South Korea's four major commercial banks earned an average of ₩71.5 million in the first half, up 12.6% from a year earlier and marking the steepest first-half increase in 13 years aside from a 20.9% rise in 2013. The average at KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana and Woori was above Samsung Electronics' ₩63 million, though below SK Hynix's ₩144 million figure, which was lifted by treasury stock gains. Shinhan Bank recorded both the highest average pay and the fastest increase at ₩75 million, up 21.0% year over year. A gender gap remained pronounced, with male bank employees earning ₩81 million on average versus ₩64 million for women. Voluntary retirement packages were also sizable, with payouts at several banks reaching or exceeding ₩1 billion for managerial-level departures. Pay at the Big Five financial holding companies rose to an average of ₩100.8 million, the first time first-half compensation has exceeded ₩100 million since Woori Financial Group's 2019 re-launch. The gains came as banks posted record earnings, helped by wider net interest margins, or NIM (the spread between lending and funding returns), in a rising-rate environment. Observers expect strong bank performance to keep feeding through to employee compensation.