It is going to get a little more expensive to get around Seoul by taxi next month:
The basic taxi fare in Seoul will rise by 1,000 won ($0.8) to 4,800 won starting next month, the city government said Monday.
The Seoul Metropolitan government’s plan to raise the base rate for mid-sized sedan cabs operating in the capital will go into effect on Feb. 1, it said.
Under the plan, the initial minimum distance for which the base taxi fare is applied will also be shortened to 1.6 kilometers from the current 2 km.
After the base fare is charged, 100 won will be additionally charged for every 131 meters of distance, up from the current 132 meters, the city also said.
This drunken idiot gets to experience the full extent of the Korean court system:
The American soldier, right, attacked the driver, left, after the taxi arrived at Seoul Air Base. He then fled the scene. Screenshot from YouTube
A member of the United States Forces Korea (USFK) has been arrested after beating up a taxi driver so badly that the victim could not work for a number of days, according to the police in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province on Sunday.
The aggressor’s attack was recorded by a black-box video camera installed inside the taxi at about 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 27. He threw punches at the victim, who is 58 years old, using both arms as the driver took the beating whilst trying to guard his head with his hands.
The American then returned to Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, right across the road from where the incident happened. The aggressor left his wallet on the back seat of the taxi, where his identification card was found. Officers from Seongnam Sujeong Police Station arrived at the scene after the soldier fled the scene. The authorities said that they will call in the aggressor to the police station for questioning.
You can read more at the link, but the assault happened after the Soldiers credit card was declined for payment. The driver for his part is smartly playing up his injuries as much as possible trying to get as much money from the U.S. military as he can.
Any bets if the argument with the cab driver had to do with not running the meter and charging an exorbitant fee?:
Members of Secret Service Counter Assault Team (CAT) walk on the tarmac as U.S. President Joe Biden lands aboard Marine One in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., May 11, 2022.
Two Secret Service employees — an agent and an armed physical security specialist — in South Korea to prepare for President Joe Biden’s impending arrival are being sent home after an alleged alcohol-fueled incident that ended with a report being filed with local police, according to two sources briefed on the situation.
The personnel were assigned to help prepare for the presidential visit when they went out for dinner and then stopped at several bars, the sources told ABC News. As the evening progressed, the two Secret Service staffers became apparently intoxicated and the agent wound up in a heated argument with a cab driver, according to the sources.
Hyundai self-driving taxi This photo provided by Hyundai Motor Group on Aug. 31, 2021, shows the IONIQ 5-based self-driving taxi jointly developed by Hyundai and Motional, its joint venture with Aptiv. The new car will be showcased at the IAA Mobility 2021 to be held in Munich, Germany, from Sept. 7-12. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
Remember the taxi driver that impeded an ambulance due to a minor accident where the patient ultimately later died at the hospital? Well he is now facing some serious charges:
A taxi driver suspected of intentionally blocking an ambulance carrying an emergency patient attends a hearing at the Seoul Eastern District Court in eastern Seoul on July 24, 2020. (Yonhap)
A Seoul taxi driver who caused public outrage by blocking an ambulance transferring an emergency patient was formally arrested Friday.
The Seoul Eastern District Court granted an arrest warrant for the 31-year-old driver, citing the possibility that he may flee or destroy evidence. The court said his charges have been sufficiently explained. (……….)
The taxi driver, who was three weeks into the job, quit work two weeks after the accident.
He was arrested on charges of assault and obstruction of business. Police are looking into whether it is possible for him to be charged with culpable homicide.
Congratulations to this taxi driver for becoming the new most hated man in Korea:
This image captured from YouTube shows the black box footage of a minor fender bender between a taxi and an ambulance that occurred in Seoul’s Gangdong-gu, June 8.
Public anger has been boiling up over a taxi driver who stopped an ambulance carrying an emergency patient from going to a hospital while demanding that the ambulance driver deal with a minor fender bender between the two cars first.
The minor collision occurred in Seoul’s southeastern Gangdong-gu, June 8. According to the son of the patient, the ambulance driver told the cabbie that he would settle the dispute after taking the patient to the hospital, but the cabbie kept demanding that the car accident be handled first and forced the ambulance to stay in the middle of the road.
While the two drivers quarreled for about 10 minutes, another ambulance arrived and took the patient, a lung cancer patient in her 80s. In the end, the patient died in the emergency room, five hours after she arrived at the hospital.
In a petition the son posted on the website run by the presidential office, he claimed the patient missed the so-called golden time needed for timely treatment due to the taxi driver.
The Korean taxi lobby is trying to take out another ride sharing company:
Taxi drivers rally in front of the National Assembly in Seoul on Oct. 23, 2019, to call for the suspension of operations of ride-hailing startup Tada. (Yonhap)
A taxi industry body urged Tada, a ride-hailing service, to terminate its business on Tuesday, a day after prosecutors indicted the company’s heads on charges of running a transportation business without a license and declared the app-based business illegal.
In a joint press conference with independent lawmaker Kim Kyung-jin, Kook Chul-hee, chief of the Seoul Private Taxi Association, said “the prosecution’s indictment brought the illegality of these taxi operators to light.”
Kim and Kook also asked the government to suspend Tada’s operation, which it claims has made a mockery of law and order, saying it would be dereliction of the government’s duty if it did not do so.
Cabbies, Kakao launch taxi-hailing serviceOh Kwang-won, head of Tago Solutions, talks about the company’s cab-hailing service, Waygo Blue, at a press event in Seoul on March 20, 2019. The company is working with Kakao Mobility to provide the service, the first example of a compromise between taxi operators and the IT firm, who clashed over permission for car-sharing business. (Yonhap)
So much for the free market deciding winners and losers. This decision would be like the DVD rental industry complaining about online streaming services and the government only allowing them to stream at certain times:
Democratic Party Lawmaker Jeon Hyun-heui, third from left, who led the ruling party’s task force to resolve the carpool issue, Kakao Mobility CEO Jung Joo-hwan and representatives of the taxi industry pose for a photo at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Thursday. After months of discussions, they finally reached an agreement in a meeting Thursday to allow carpooling services with limits on operating hours. [YONHAP]
The government, Kakao’s mobile transportation service affiliate and the taxi industry clinched a breakthrough agreement on Thursday to allow Kakao Mobility’s carpool service to operate at limited times.
The successful conclusion of the three-way discussions ends months of bitter disputes that led to the suspension of a beta service and immolations by three taxi drivers, two of whom died as a result.
Kakao’s new service will be available only during weekday commuting hours between 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. It will not operate on weekends or public holidays.
You can read more at the link, but judging by the above picture the Kakao Mobility CEO Jung Joo-hwan does not look happy about this agreement. I fully expect this fight between Kakao and the taxi driver union will come up again in the future.
Here is the latest update on the status of Kakao’s planned carpooling app in South Korea:
Hong Nam-ki, the minister of economy and finance, speaks in a debate session organized by broadcast journalists in western Seoul on Jan. 30, 2019. (Yonhap)
South Korea’s finance minister said Wednesday that local carpooling services will only get off the ground after an understanding is reached between Kakao Mobility Corp. and representatives from the taxi industry. The comments by Hong Nam-ki came nearly two weeks after a taxi task force decided to join a social dialogue body meant to resolve disputes over carpooling services.
It remains unclear whether the parties concerned can work out their differences and produce a win-win deal. In December, heads of four taxi associations boycotted a meeting with the government, the ruling party and Kakao Mobility on how to lay the groundwork for the creation of a social dialogue body. The taxi associations, which speak for taxi companies and drivers in South Korea, have warned that a hard-won dialogue could collapse if a social dialogue body moves forward on the premise of allowing carpooling services.
You can read more at the link, but basically the taxi services do not want competition that would force them to provide better service in a competitive market place.
