🇰🇷 South Korea · University Professor
From KRW 96M / yr (≈$66K USD, full prof) by industry
Mean salary — KRW 96M / yr (≈$66K USD, full prof).
KRW 96M / yr (≈$66K USD, full prof)
💰 Pay spread — by industry / specialty
The mean is the headline; the spread is what matters.
200,000,000 KRW
Medicine / Pharmacy professor
Concurrent clinical practice possible
🟢 Tier 1 — KOSIS Wage Structure Basic Statistics Survey 2023
130,000,000 KRW
Engineering (active industry-academia)
Industry-academia project income
🟢 Tier 1 — KOSIS Wage Structure Basic Statistics Survey 2023
110,000,000 KRW
Business / Economics
MBA teaching + consulting
🟢 Tier 1 — KOSIS Wage Structure Basic Statistics Survey 2023
95,000,000 KRW
Natural Sciences
Research grants + government projects
🟢 Tier 1 — KOSIS Wage Structure Basic Statistics Survey 2023
🗺️ The path — stage by stage
- 1. Bachelor + Master + PhD (10~12 yr) — Varies widely by field
- 2. Postdoc (0~3 yr) — Especially STEM fields
- 3. Assistant Professor appointment (— yr) — Faculty open hire — extremely competitive
- 4. Tenure track (6~12 yr) — Publication + teaching + service review
- 5. Full Professor (tenured) (12+ yr) — Tenured until age 65
🩺 Apprenticeship / Residency
Postdoctoral researcher (postdoc, 0~3 yr)
STEM usually does postdoc; humanities/social may go straight to faculty.
💵 Specialties — same title, different number
| Specialty / Industry | Mean / yr | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine / Pharmacy professor | 200,000,000 KRW | Concurrent clinical practice possible |
| Engineering (active industry-academia) | 130,000,000 KRW | Industry-academia project income |
| Business / Economics | 110,000,000 KRW | MBA teaching + consulting |
| Natural Sciences | 95,000,000 KRW | Research grants + government projects |
| Humanities / Social Sciences | 85,000,000 KRW | Teaching + writing |
🏢 Employer types — base vs total comp
National universities (SNU / KAIST)
Civil servant pay scale + research grants
Private universities (Yonsei / Korea / Sungkyunkwan / Hanyang)
Variable base, differing research support
Non-tenure (teaching-only)
Lower pay, teaching-focused
📈 Income across years
PhD / postdoc
40,000,000 KRW
0~3 yr
Assistant Professor
65,000,000 KRW
0~6 yr
Associate Professor
80,000,000 KRW
6~12 yr
Full Professor (tenured)
96,000,000 KRW
12+ yr
📚 Go deeper
Four sub-pages — gift, vision, path, history.