K League side Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors striker Kim Shin-wook was the "highest paid domestic player" in the league this season, according to Baek Byung-yeul of the KOREA TIMES. The K League released a list of players' salaries, "which includes performance clauses, incentives and real salaries, of the K League Classic, the top flight Korean football organization, and of the second-tier K League Challenge." The total calculated payroll of players on the 11 K League Classic teams for the '16 season amounted to 67.6B won ($56.4M), comprised of 41.25B won ($34M) for domestic players and 13.24B won ($11M) for int'l players. The average salary of K League Classic players this season was 176.6M won ($147,000). Kim received 1.5B won ($1.22M). The average salary of domestic players in the K League Classic this season was 119.2M won ($98,826) while int'l players averaged 357.8M won ($296,645). For int'l players, Jeonbuk's Brazilian attacker Leonardo Rodrigues Pereira was the highest paid player with an annual salary of 1.7B won ($1.4M). The total team salary "showed that spending more money on players can guarantee a club higher returns." Jeonbuk, which "grabbed this year's Asian club championship title," paid the highest salary of 14.62B won ($12.2M); FC Seoul, which clinched its first K League Classic title since '12, spent the second most at 8.9B won ($7.4M); and Suwon, which won the FA Cup title over rival Seoul, was third at 7.6B won ($6.3M) (KOREA TIMES, 12/22).
