Taxicabs By Country - South Korea

South Korea

There is an extensive taxicab system, with about 70,000 in Seoul alone. Altogether there are about 250,000 taxis in the whole of the country.

In cities such as Seoul and Busan, taxicabs are very common. There are three types: an "ordinary" (ilban;일반) taxi; a "model" (mobum;모범) taxicab, which is painted black and is bigger and much more expensive; and a 'taxicab for the handicapped' (jang-e-incalltaxi;장애인콜택시), which is a yellow painted van for the handicapped people who are living around Seoul. There are also two types of taxicab drivers' license: all taxicab drivers start driving their taxicab as employees in the taxicab companies, and these taxicabs that belong to a company are called 'corporate' (bubin;법인) taxicabs. After years of service in the taxicab company, drivers get a license which allows them to purchase their own vehicle and drive it as a self-employed driver, and the taxicabs they then drive are called 'individual' (gaein;개인) taxicabs.

For 'ordinary' taxicabs, there is an extra 20% increase in fare after midnight, but this does not apply to the 'model' taxis. Most 'ordinary' taxis are silver or white in colour. Virtually all Korean taxicabs are Korean car models, and meter fares start at 2,400 South Korean won. The fares are much cheaper than in major cities in Europe and North America, and no extra fares are charged for luggage. All taxicabs are labelled in Korean with a sign 'individual' (개인), 'model' (모범), or the name of the company if the taxicab belongs to a taxicab company, and have a half-sphere on top of a half-pyramid attached on the roof and labelled "TAXI".

In the 1970s and 1980s most taxicabs in South Korea were three Hyundai models—the Hyundai Pony, Hyundai Presto and Hyundai Stellar. Daewoo Prince was a very popular taxi model in the 1990s. Nowadays most taxicabs are normal sedans such as Hyundai Sonata, Kia Lotze, and Samsung SM5.