Anchor​: The South Korean government on Wednesday proposed a new revision to the nation’s taxi service regulations. The plan proposes easing restrictions on certain ride-hailing services and introduces measures to support conventional taxi drivers.
Park Jong-hong has this report.

Report: A new government plan seeks to codify ride-hailing services and normalize their operations as their growing popularity generates greater friction with the taxi industry.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Monday released a report outlining a new architecture for such services operating in Korea.

The plan calls for ride-hailing platform operators to allocate a certain portion of their earnings to a state-managed fund that will be established for the purchase of taxi driver licenses.

A ministry official said in exchange for such contributions, lawmakers will allow vehicle-hailing platforms, such as TaDa, to compete with conventional taxi services. 

Launched in October of last year, TaDa takes advantage of a legal loophole that allows rental cars with a capacity of eleven to 15 seats to be leased for short periods of time along with a driver. 

The van-hailing service has become immensely popular, driven in part by the fact that many ride-sharing platforms, such as Uber and Lyft, are outlawed in Korea.

These services are strongly opposed by the taxi industry, which is concerned that new transportation market entrants may encroach on their business.

Though the new plan is part of ongoing government efforts to alleviate these concerns, observers say it is unclear how the proposal will land, thus making a timetable for implementation far from certain.
Park Jong-hong, KBS World Radio News.