Uber, the U.S. taxi-hauling app opera­tor, said Tuesday it was officially launch­ing its luxury sedan service Uber Black in Korea.

The premium taxi service teams up with veteran taxi drivers with five or more years of taxi driving experience without an accident or one or more years of deluxe taxi driving experi­ence without an accident.

Uber will provide its own service train­ing to drivers on how to offer services that

meet Uber Black’s strict global standards, the

company said. The drivers will operate Kia Motors’ K9 luxury sedans as part of its part­nership with the carmaker.

Users can choose “UberBlack” on the Uber app and then confirm their location and re­quest a ride. The base fare is 8,000 won and riders get fare estimate when they provide a destination.

The service is available in major areas of Seoul for now and is expected to be extended to the entire city in the near future. (jylee@heraldcorp.com)

Source : The Korea Herald Newspaper, January 21, 2016