On Thursday, Kakao, which earlier kicked off a pilot run of the service, postponed its official release, originally slated for Monday, after a taxi driver committed suicide by setting himself on fire in protest.

The officials, including DP leader Lee Hae-chan, its chief policymaker Kim Tae-nyeon and Transport Minister Kim Hyun-mi, also agreed to review a set of measures to support and develop the industry, including the implementation of a salary system for taxi drivers.

 "We plan to come up with an immediate measure to have taxi drivers receive salaries in a legal way," Jeon Hyun-heui, a lawmaker of the ruling party, said.

In South Korea, drivers hired by a taxi company are expected to submit a fixed amount of income to the company on a daily basis and keep the rest, an arrangement that causes worry about unstable income if customer numbers dwindle.

Asked about the speculation that a taxi driver's monthly salary could reach about 2.5 million won (around $2,212), Jeon expressed an expectation that it would be more than that.

She also said, "We are not discussing an option to raise taxi fares," and took a dim view of the prospect that implementation of a salary system for taxi drivers would lead to a hike in taxi fares. (Yonhap)