S. Korean cabbies protest carpooling
Print Edition
Tens of thousands of South Korean taxi drivers walked off the job across the country yesterday and held a mass rally in downtown Seoul to protest against a carpooling service that they say will destroy their jobs.
The demonstration came days after the death of a taxi driver who set himself on fire in protest against plans to introduce carpooling service Kakao Mobility, a unit of mobile messenger operator Kakao Corp.
鈥淚f the service is implemented, my income will shrink by half. I鈥檒l fall into poverty,鈥 said driver Yoon Woo-seok, 62, at the rally in front of the National Assembly.
Drivers wearing black headbands and ribbons to mourn their colleague chanted 鈥渃ombat illegal carpool.鈥
Kakao postponed the official launch of its service after the suicide. 鈥淲e will have continued consultations with the industry, parliament and the government,鈥 the firm said.
South Korea has one of the world鈥檚 highest smartphone penetration rates, but app-based car-hailing services such as US-based Uber have not taken off, partly because of strong unions and tight regulations in Asia鈥檚 fourth-biggest economy.
The protests pose a challenge to the labor-friendly government, which has also pledged to promote new industries to cut reliance on big conglomerates, such as Hyundai and Samsung.
According to a survey in October by pollster Realmeter, more than 50 percent of the public support carpooling.
The taxi strike stranded commuters and disrupted traffic, with some taxis temporarily blocking a road leading to a highway in the central city of Daejeon, according to media reports.
Seoul鈥檚 taxi operation rate dropped to 50 percent compared to the same day last week, a transport ministry official said.
Taxi drivers say they already suffer low incomes and long hours. 鈥淢y entire family is scraping a living on my tiny income,鈥 said another driver, Lee Nam-soo, 67.
He said he earned 80,000 won (US$70) to 90,000 won a day. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no way I can survive if Kakao operates.鈥
Taxi associations urged parliament to ban carpooling, while calling for a crackdown on what they say are illegal carpooling services.
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