YTN

The parliamentary committee has approved a bill under which the owners of South Korea's top business conglomerates are obliged to disclose their earnings.

The National Assembly's National Policy Committee passed the bill on Thursday which will make it mandatory for all companies to make public the earnings of their top five salary earners, regardless of whether or not they are enrolled executive directors.

The committee allowed a grace period of two years for companies to prepare for the transition.

Many say that the law, if enacted, would fuel market transparency. However, the business sector has expressed its objections, citing that the new policy would infringe on personal privacy.

The current law only makes it mandatory for listed directors who earned more than 500 million won (U$4.06 million) per year to make public their wages.

The law has prompted many owners of the country's chaebol, who want to keep secret their incomes, to give up their registered director status.