This paper re-estimates top incomes in Korea using detailed income tax return
data from 2007 to 2012. The mean-split histogram method is used as the
interpolation method. The new estimates indicate income distribution in Korea
has deteriorated since the global financial crisis, but conventional measures of
income distribution, such as the Gini index, fail to capture this trend. In
addition, the gaps between the new estimates using better data and the existing
estimates in the WID are not negligible. These imply that more reliable
estimates of top incomes measured using tax return data should supplement the
conventional income distribution indexes.