On Friday, the CEO of Uber Technologies Inc. reaffirmed the company's dedication to the South Korean market, where it faces stiff competition from local tech giant Kakao. He indicated that the platform aims to recruit more taxi drivers to facilitate its growth.
"Taxi drivers utilizing the Uber app will earn more and have increased activity," stated Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi during a press conference in Seoul.
"We are experiencing a growth rate that significantly outpaces the market, and we are optimistic that our market share will continue to expand."
Kakao currently dominates the taxi-hailing sector with over 90% market share, as estimated from app usage statistics.
Uber initially launched in South Korea in 2013 but exited due to regulations that restricted ride services to licensed taxi companies.
In 2021, Uber re-entered the market by forming a joint venture with SK Group, South Korea's second-largest conglomerate, named UT.
This taxi-hailing service was rebranded as Uber Taxi in March of this year.
Khosrowshahi noted that approximately 20% of South Korean taxi drivers are now part of the Uber Taxi platform, and the number of passengers surged nearly 80% year-on-year in the first half of 2024, with international traveler usage more than doubling since the rebranding.