Talent agency Goldmedalist, which manages stars like Kim Soo-hyun and Choi Hyun-wook, has logged unusually low payouts to its actors over the past five years, according to a recent report by media outlet Sisa Journal.

The report found that Goldmedalist only paid a total of 670 million won ($480,100) to its contracted actors since 2020. The agency’s website currently lists nine actors under its management.

Payments to agencies typically cover actors’ appearance fees in dramas, films and advertisements as well as other expenses, with the actors usually taking most of the revenue.

Goldmedalist’s annual total payouts ranged from as little as 52 million won in 2020 to a high of 270 million won in 2024. In the case of last year, that amounts to just over 1 percent of the agency’s annual revenue of over 20 billion won, fueled largely by Kim’s immense success in the tvN television drama series “Queen of Tears” (2024).

The figure is strikingly low when compared to other talent agencies. EDAM Entertainment reportedly paid out 26.3 billion and 33.6 billion won in 2023 and 2024, respectively. The company currently manages singers IU and Woodz, and managed actor Shin Se-kyung until last year.

Girl group NewJeans’ agency ADOR was also reported to have paid 29 billion and 23.8 billion won in the same period. Singer Lee Seung-gi’s agency Hook Entertainment was said to have allocated 79 percent of its annual revenue for the past four years to the payouts alone.

In response, a representative from Goldmedalist told Sisa Journal the payouts "are not subject to disclosure” and that “commissions paid to the actors are included in the cost of service sales, therefore it is unreasonable to calculate the pay based simply on the figures listed in the financial statements.”

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]