Samsung Electronics Co. paid one of its vice president-level executives 1.02 billion won (about US$836,000) in annual salary, including incentives, in 2008, according to an insurance suit document involving the executive who was killed in a car accident in early 2009.
In the suit filed by the bereaved family of the executive, identified only by his surname, Jang, seeking 8.4 billion won (US$ 6.9 million) from an insurance company early last year, the Seoul Central District Court ordered Kyobo AXA
to pay his family 960 million won in death benefits.
The amount was calculated based on his 2008 salary, which includes annual salary, bonus and incentives, the court said, citing reports by Samsung Electronics and tax authorities.
Jang earned 783 million won in 2008 and posthumously received 292 million won under the company's profit sharing system along with 1.77 billion won in retirement benefits, the document showed.
Acknowledging Jang was partially at fault in the accident, the court cut the insurance grants by 40 percent of the total amount that was set to
compensate his expected income from Samsung as a vice president by early 2011. Jang was appointed as a vice president on a three-year contract.
According to the document, 34 out of 182 retired Samsung executives were reemployed as contract executives during a 2000-2008 period.
Jang's case is the first time specific salary information of Samsung Electronics executives has been made public.