The U.S. Federal Reserve may be vastly influential with decisions it makes on key interest rates that can cause ripple effects across the global financial markets.

However, this power surprisingly does not reflect the current annual salary of chairman Ben Bernanke, who receives $199,700 ― much lower than that of Bank of Korea governor Kim Choong-soo, according to the Bank of Korea, the Ministry of Labor and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The central bank in Seoul said that it was inappropriate to compare the salary of governor Kim, who earns 340 million won ($310,000), with that of the Federal Reserve chief, as the latter will receive a pension while the Korean bank head is not entitled to a public employee’s pension after retirement.

By Park Hyong-ki (hkp@heraldcorp.com)