Michael ‘Collin’ Zreet is currently a part time student at The University of Texas at Dallas where he is completing his mba and a Masters in Innovation & Entrepreneurship
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- Figure 4.0
- Brand Taxi
- Jumbo Taxi
Figure 3.0 Select Transportation of Seoul from 1970 to 2010 (Ko 2015) Much of this can be attributed to the rise of the personal affordable automobile from the 1990s forward, made by local manufacturers: KIA, Hyundai, and others. In 2009 alone, South Korean automobile manufacturers’ annual output was 3.2 million passenger vehicles, with 2 million of those exported to U.S. and European markets, with a steady growth toward Chinese and Indian markets (Ritter 2010). 
Figure 4.0 Increasing Automotive Production in Select Asian Countries (Kidambu 2013) In South Korea there are a few different varieties of taxi (Jang): Regular Taxi: These taxicabs are owned by the drivers themselves and are required to have five years of accident-free experience. Since they are self owned, the drivers keep all of their fares. Brand Taxi: These taxicabs are owned by a company that pays the drivers a commission from their fares. They are relatively the same fares as the Regular Taxis. Deluxe Taxi: These taxicab drivers must have ten years of accident-free experience and must also receive Deluxe Taxi Certification. Fares for the Deluxe Taxi are higher than Regular Taxis because of their safer record and certification. Jumbo Taxi: Similar to the Deluxe Taxi but can carry up to eight or nine passengers. International Taxi: A variety of Regular, Deluxe, or Jumbo Taxi but with drivers fluent in either English or Japanese. HISTORY OF UBER IN KOREA Uber expanded to Seoul in December 2014, after providing three months of free services to test the market (Ritter 2010). But even before Uber could have started, the Seoul Metropolitan Government had already been arresting Uber drivers, deeming the ridesharing service illegal (Hwang 2014). Punishment could be up to two years of imprisonment or a fine of 20,000,000 won ($20,000 U.S.) (Hwang 2014). This hard stance on Uber came as a directive from South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (MLIT), saying that anyone operating as a transportation service need proper licensing and certification (Hwang 2014). A large problem with this is that the licenses cost 1,000,000 won ($77,000 U.S.) and are bought and sold under the table (Taxi License Value 2014). In April of 2014, the Seoul Metropolitan Government issued a fine of 1 million won (approximately $974 U.S.) to anyone trying to pick up fares through the Uber application (Kwaak 2014). The local government also launched an investigation against Uber but was unsuccessful due to lack of evidence (Kwaak 2014). There are two types of taxi licenses in South Korea. All drivers start off as employees of corporate taxi companies. After years of experience, the drivers are then allowed to obtain a separate license where they can buy their own car and work as an independent driver. Despite the local and national governments’ hard stance on Uber, the public seemed to very much enjoy the services that Uber provided. According to a third party study, 90% of the users in Seoul supported the service, and over 95% would recommend it to a friend (Hwang 2014). Compared to the data shown in Figure 7.0 below, this is a stark difference to the approximate 56% satisfaction rates of the taxis operating in Seoul, the lowest out of all modes of transportation. All other modes of transportation are increasing in satisfaction, where taxis is the only mode in decline (Ko 2015). 
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