Kakao Mobility's 'k.ride' taxi app offers live translation for foreign travelers

Kakao Mobility, Korea's largest ride-hailing service provider, launched a new "global" app catered to foreign travelers in Korea.

Pictured is a Kakao Blue taxi operated by Kakao Mobility at Seoul Station, central Seoul in February 2023. [YONHAP]

Kakao Mobility, Korea's largest ride-hailing service provider, launched a new "global" app catered to foreign travelers in Korea.

The app, called k.ride, is equipped with live translation and does not require a Kakao account to log in — but it only provides the more expensive of the services available through its domestic counterpart, Kakao T, and charges an additional fee for the foreigner-friendly benefits. The k.ride app operates in English, simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese and Japanese. Users can search for their destination in over 100 languages, including Arabic and Thai, and can use the built-in live translation feature to speak with the driver in Korean. Kakao T only offers services in Korean and English and does not include live translation.

Users can also log into k.ride with their phone numbers and Google, Apple or email accounts, while Kakao T requires a Kakao account. k.ride accepts overseas credit cards as payment, as does Kakao T.

Customers will have the choice to hail four different taxi types — Kakao Blue, Venti, Black or Deluxe — which are the four premium and more expensive options available on Kakao T, and are referred to as Standard, Comfort, Deluxe and Luxury on k.ride. All options require a preregistered card for payment and include additional service fees as well as a charge for cancellation.

Kakao T's most affordable "general taxi" option — which requires neither service fees nor cancellation fees and allows for payment directly to the driver — is not available on k.ride. Those who download k.ride are required to register and verify a credit card before they can hail a car.

In comparison to the general tier, Kakao Blue taxis arrive faster, while minivan Ventis are larger. The premium Black and Deluxe taxis are also slightly larger than the general option and are tend to be more comfortable.

Kakao Mobility launched a new taxi-hailing service for foreigners named k.ride. The app is available for downloading in app stores in 14 countries including Korea, Japan, China, Singapore and the United States. [KAKAO MOBILITY]

k.ride excluded that general taxi option to ensure "stable services," a spokesperson for Kakao Mobility told the Korea JoongAng Daily.

"The premium taxis, which guarantee quality and are dispatched individually, were first made available so that we could guarantee stable services in its launch stage. We will look into options to add more types of fleets and global services after monitoring [k.ride]," the company spokesperson added.

The same rides will cost a bit more through k.ride than they would if hailed through Kakao T to account for the additional login and translation services that the former app offers. Kakao Mobility said that the added cost will be calculated as a percentage of each ride but did not specify the exact percentage.

k.ride launched Tuesday in 14 countries, including Korea, Japan, China, Singapore and the United States. It will roll out to more than 30 countries by end of the year, Kakao Mobility said on the same day.

BY KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]