The size of the recruitment is big, considering less than 10 people are working at the Korean office now.
Some market watchers speculate the new operation could be UberPool, the latest carpooling service that matches people to share a ride with someone traveling the same route. More recently, Uber is spending big on new projects such as its food delivery service, UberEats, and its research and development of self-driving cars.
Uber Korea, however, was not immediately available for comment on the matter.
Uber entered the country in 2013 with its car-sharing service UberX. But two years later, the iconic ride-sharing provider had to halt operations, as it met with resistance from taxi drivers and the Seoul City government. This year, Uber returned to the market by launching UberBlack, a premium taxi-hailing service, for selective areas in Seoul.
With much higher fare than regular taxis in the city, Uber has had a rough ride so far in the country that is already dominated by KakaoTaxi, a taxi-hailing app launched by tech giant Kakao in partnership with local taxi drivers during Uber’s hiatus.
By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)