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| Rep. Choi Seung-jae of the ruling People Power Party, center, speaks during a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday, to urge Kakao and Naver to appropriately compensate drivers for lost income resulting from the server outage. Courtesy of Rep. Choi's office |
By Park Jae-hyuk
Kakao Mobility announced on Wednesday that it will pay 7,550 won ($5.30) to taxi drivers and 4,260 won to chauffeurs, who have paid the company's membership service fee, as compensation for losses incurred due to the service outage that occurred last Saturday's as a result of a fire at Kakao's main data center in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.
The mobility service provider's decision has drawn criticism from taxi drivers and lawmakers alike.
Taxi drivers have protested the amount, saying they suffered much larger losses, because the disruption occurred during peak operation hours.
Rep. Choi Seung-jae of the ruling People Power Party also held a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday, to urge Kakao Mobility to appropriately compensate drivers for lost income resulting from the server outage.
"The 7,550 won is the only compensation plan that Kakao has announced for taxi drivers who could not receive calls, due to the service disruption that caused nationwide chaos," the lawmaker said. "It is apparently ridiculing the victims."
Kakao Mobility has yet to announce its compensation plan for Kakao-affiliated drivers, who can only be allocated rides via the KakaoT app.
The company said that it will come up with additional measures for those drivers.
Amid the controversy, Kakao Mobility CEO Ryu Geung-seon decided to appear at Friday's National Assembly audit of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, according to industry officials. Those summoned within seven days before an audit are not obliged to appear, so Ryu, who was called up on Monday, did so of his own volition.
HDC Group Chairman Chung Mong-gyu, who was supposed to appear at Friday's audit of the land ministry to give testimony along with Ryu, refused to show up, citing an overseas trip he needed to go on as the Korea Football Association (KFA) chairman to attend the Oceania Football Confederation's meeting.
Lawmakers had planned to question him about his company's responsibility in a series of fatal building collapses in the southwestern city of Gwangju.
Chung also declined to appear at an audit of the Fair Trade Commission earlier this month, citing an overseas trip he needed to go on as the KFA chairman to host the AFC Asian Cup in Korea next year. However, Qatar was selected on Monday as the venue for the sport event.
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