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Forbes Korea, the Korean edition of the world-famous business magazine, recently released its annual list of the 40 most powerful Korean celebrities in the entertainment industry. Like previous years, the list reveals the current landscape of Korea’s celebrity culture as it enlists top celebrities who have made a significant impact in various fields.
BTS snagged the top spot and ranked #1, with the highest media exposure, social media popularity, and earnings. The K-pop global sensation has remained in the top position since 2020, and hence this does not come as a surprise to many.
Forbes Korea's Top 40 Power Celebrities for 2022
Similar to the US Forbes annual list of the 'Highest-Paid Celebrity 100', the Korean Top 40 by Forbes carefully selects celebrities from various entertainment fields to rank them in order of highest to lowest social influence.
The business magazine chooses four different categories to rank. Profits have 50% weightage, while media exposure, activities on broadcast, and social media influence combined stands for the remaining 50%.
Top 40 Powerful Celebrities of 2022
Ranks 1-10
- BTS
- BLACKPINK
- Son Heung-min
- Ryu Hyun-jin
- Lee Chan-won
- Lee Seung-gi
- Lim Young-woong
- Youn Yuh-jung
- Yoo Jae-suk
- Jang Min-ho
Following BTS is K-pop girl group BLACKPINK at #2. The quartet's most significant achievement since last year is the song How You Like That, which exceeded 600 million streams on Spotify in 2022. Their debut music video, BOOMBAYAH, also recently hit 1.4 million views on YouTube, making them the first K-pop act to achieve this feat.
Football legend Son Heung-min occupies the third place. Not only does he play forward for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, but he is also the captain of the South Korean national team.
Ranks 11-20
- IU
- Park Seo-joon
- Jang Yoon-jung
- Ahn Jeong-hwan
- Kim Yeon-Koung
- Jung Dong-won
- TWICE
- Lee Jung-jae
- Lee Ji-ah
- Lee Min-ho.
K-pop singer IU enters the list at the eleventh position. Known as the “Nation’s Sweetheart”, she swept the domestic music charts last year by snagging the top position on the 2021 Gaon Digital Chart.
Ranks 21-30
- Kim Soo-hyun
- Suzy
- Kim So-yeon
- Park Eun-seok
- Young Tak
- Kang Daniel
- Jeon Mi-do
- Han So-hwee
- Song Hye-kyo
- Son Ye-jin.
Ranks from 31-40
- Song Ga-in
- Rain
- Park Shin-hye
- Lee Seungo-yon
- Lee Moo-jin
- Irene
- Ahn Hyo-seop
- Kim Hye-soo
- Kim Hee-jae
- Park Bo-gum
In addition to the criteria for calculating the rankings, broadcasting, film, and advertisement fees are also calculated to determine the income earned by the celebrities during the survey period.
