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Uber started charging a fee last year for the
taxi-like service, which matches passengers via a smartphone app
with private drivers who do not hold commercial transport
licenses.
Prosecutors subsequently indicted Uber's chief executive, Travis
Kalanick, as well as its South Korean unit for violating a law
prohibiting individuals or firms without proper commercial
licenses from providing or facilitating transportation services.
"We want to actively work towards a consensus, and the first
step to that process is switching off the fare," Uber's head of
north Asia Allen Penn said in a statement.
Uber proposed a new registration system for its drivers in South
Korea earlier this month in a bid to operate legally. But the
transport ministry rejected the proposal and said it would stop
the company offering its services.
Uber has been the subject of similar regulatory ire in countries
around the world, even as it expanded into more than 290 cities.
In January, the city of Seoul declared Uber's services illegal
and started offering rewards of up to 1 million won ($911) for
people who reported private drivers providing transport through
the company.
Yang Wan-soon, director of the Seoul city government's taxi and
logistics division, told Reuters it is up to the courts to
decide whether Uber can operate legally.
"The city also needs to consider whether the free taxi service
would disrupt existing market order," Yang said.
(Reporting by Se Young Lee and Sohee Kim; Editing by Christopher
Cushing)
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