Following the Service for Foreign Visitors to Korea
Vehicle-Hailing Service Linked with Major Local Mobility Providers in 12 Overseas Countries
Over 600,000 Domestic Taxi Calls and 600,000 Cumulative Downloads in Over 100 Countries
Kakao Mobility announced on the 27th that it will expand the service countries of its foreigner-exclusive mobility platform, 'K-Ride,' from South Korea to 12 overseas countries.
Since its launch in June last year, the service, which was only available domestically for foreign visitors to Korea, will now be extended to the United States, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia, and Saudi Arabia.
With this service launch, users can easily access various vehicle-hailing services linked with major local mobility providers such as taxis, premium sedans, and mid-to-large-sized sport utility vehicles (SUVs) during overseas travel through a single K-Ride app.
Since its launch, K-Ride has provided call services for Kakao T Blue, Venti, Black, and Model taxis to foreign tourists from about 100 countries who have visited Korea. As a result, as of March 2025, the number of domestic taxi calls via K-Ride has surpassed 600,000, and the cumulative number of downloads worldwide on app stores in over 100 countries has also exceeded 600,000.
Fifty-eight percent of K-Ride users are nationals of China, Japan, the United States, Taiwan, and Singapore. This is similar to the statistics of foreign visitors to Korea by the Korea Tourism Organization, demonstrating that K-Ride has secured highly reliable tourist data based on actual usage.
K-Ride allows easy registration by entering a phone number followed by Google, Apple account, or email verification. It offers an automatic translation feature for over 100 languages, including English, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, and Arabic, during destination search and chat with drivers. Additionally, it has enhanced payment convenience by introducing automatic payment via overseas-issued cards as well as overseas simple payment functions.
Ryu Geung-seon, CEO of Kakao Mobility, said, "K-Ride is a foreigner-exclusive global mobility platform that anyone can use without restrictions on language, accounts, or payments, and it has received high praise from foreigners visiting Korea since its launch last year. With the start of overseas services this time, we will continue to advance the global mobility platform so that anyone, anywhere in the world, can conveniently use mobility services through K-Ride."
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