How do you get a taxi in South Korea?
Short answer
Apps do most of the work. Street hailing works, but a driver may pass on a destination they do not fancy.
Why apps took over
Calling a taxi through an app has become the default, and not only for convenience. The destination is entered before the car arrives, so there is nothing to explain through a window and no chance of being misheard.
It also removes the pass-by problem. A driver scanning the street can decline a destination they do not want by simply not stopping; a driver who has accepted the trip in an app has already agreed to it.
Hailing on the street
Street hailing works, especially outside peak hours. Raise a hand at a taxi showing a vacant light and it will pull in.
At closing time in a busy district it stops working well. That is when empty taxis are scarce and drivers are choosing routes, and standing on a kerb competing with a queue of people is the slow option.
Paying
Everything runs on the meter, with a late-night surcharge the meter adds by itself. Almost every taxi takes cards and transit cards, so cash is rarely necessary.
There is no tipping. The number on the meter is the number you pay, and rounding up is not a local habit.
Good to know
- A late-night surcharge applies; the meter adds it for you
- No tipping — the meter is the whole fare
Raise a hand at any vacant taxi, or queue at a station rank. A red sign in the windscreen means it is free.
Through an app. Beijing's own guidance says waving at the kerb is so obsolete it barely works — DiDi, with an English interface, is how rides happen.
Insist on the meter — switching it off for a fixed price is illegal, and 1584 is the government hotline for reporting it. Tuk-tuks have no meter, so that price is negotiated before you get in.
By brand, not by chance: the tourism board names the reputable metered firms — Mai Linh in green, Vinasun in white, Taxi Group in Hanoi — and the apps work if you have a local SIM.
Flag a yellow cab on the street — the meter does the rest. There is even an English-language hotline, 0800-055-850, that orders one for you.