It was previously reported that Kim Soo Hyun's fee for being in 'Queen of Tears' was under scrutiny as the show's popularity continues to grow. The actor had recently voluntarily taken a pay cut in response to the controversy surrounding him because of a photo Kim Sae Ron had posted recently on her social media.

In response Korean netizens shared their thoughts on a Korean online community. 

"I don't know if that amount is true, but I'm not just talking about Kim Soo Hyun. I think the salaries of the actors are strangely high. A significant amount of the production cost seems to be taken up by appearance fees. It's good if the drama is a hit, but if it fails, you get the same amount. It's interesting."

"I wonder if it's really that much, but you should earn a lot while you can."

"There seems to be a lot of talk about top actors' appearance fees lately."

"It's less than I thought...?"

"Please raise the labor costs of the drama staff...."

"I heard he voluntarily cut his appearance fee?? It's still quite a lot."

"Even though the appearance fee is high... the viewership ratings are good and it's doing well overseas, so isn't it worth the money as a star?"

"Wasn’t this filmed for 10 months? 500 million won a month seems similar to other high-income earners."

"But every time Kim Soo Hyun appears, there's always talk about his appearance fee. Is it really that expensive?"

"Other male actors receive ridiculous amounts of money per episode, so Kim Soo Hyun's 300 million won per episode doesn't seem that expensive. They all get paid a lot.. haha..."

"What are you saying? Why are they being so mean to Kim Soo Hyun these days?"

"It's not Kim Soo Hyun's personal problem, it's just that the actors' guarantees are too high, and the staff is in an industry where they don't make money and die from overwork."