SEOUL, Dec. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — Kim Kil-jun, a taxi driver for 22 years, thought his taxi-hailing app was like a business partner, something that helped him get more fares, but now he feels like the platform has turned on him and become a powerful competitor in South Korea’s growing mobility market. The app’s operator, [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean IT giant Kakao Corp. said Thursday it has decided to delay the launch of its carpool service after a taxi driver committed suicide by setting himself on fire in protest. Kakao, which operates South Korea’s most popular mobile messenger application, KakaoTalk, earlier kicked off a pilot run [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — The taxi industry announced yesterday that 100,000 taxi drivers are expected to flock to the National Assembly in Yeouido on Thursday of next week to voice opposition to the ride-sharing service launched by Kakao Mobility Corp., spurred by the self-immolation of a taxi driver surnamed Choi on December 10. Kang [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — Tens of thousands of taxi drivers staged a protest rally near the National Assembly on Thursday against the planned launch of Kakao Corp.’s commercial carpool service, calling for the swift passage of a revised bill that would ban its entry onto the market. Members affiliated with four taxi industry [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — More than half of South Koreans back the planned launch of Kakao Corp.’s carpool service, which sparked angry protests from the taxi industry, a survey showed Monday. In a survey conducted by Realmeter with 500 adults across the country Friday, 56 percent of the respondents said they agree with [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — The upcoming launch of a carpooling service by Internet giant Kakao has sparked taxi drivers to consider taking drastic measures, including a strike, as the conflict continues to escalate. The carpooling service currently permitted by the government is validated by a clause in the transportation law that allows exceptions [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — Kakao Mobility, a South Korean firm that provides ride-hailing and driver-for-hire services, said Thursday that it has invested 1.5 billion yen (US$13.4 million) for a 3.4 percent stake in Japan’s largest taxi-hailing service, JapanTaxi Co., in a move to expand its services beyond the home market. The two firms [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s top mobile messenger operator Kakao Corp. said Wednesday it will adopt an “unsend” feature that allows users to delete missent messages on its Kakao app. Kakao recently made the decision to allow for “unsending a message” within a certain window before the message is read by the [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s top mobile messenger operator Kakao Corp. said Tuesday that it will expand investment in an artificial intelligence (AI) sector in line with the company’s effort to find a new growth engine. “Kakao adopted AI to spearhead long term and stable growth in various services,” Kim Byung-han, an [...]
SEOUL, Jul. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Kakao Corp., the operator of South Korea’s top mobile messenger, KakaoTalk, has joined forces with major talent agency YG Entertainment Inc. to tap deeper into the online comic market in Japan, industry sources said Monday. Although the two firms have not signed official tie-up deals, the collaboration is drawing [...]