Myeongdong to Hongdae for $32? Undercover journalists expose taxi scam.

A taxi driver in Seoul sparked outrage after charging a Japanese passenger nearly four times the normal fare for a ride from Myeongdong, central Seoul, to Hongdae, western Seoul.

Japan’s TBS News Dig presented the case case as an example of fare-gouging targeting foreign tourists on Thursday.

TBS journalists posed as tourists and hailed a cab from Myeongdong to Hongdae, according to the report. The driver told them, “It’s 45,000 won [$32] to Hongdae. The traffic is heavy,” and turned off the fare meter. His driver’s license, usually displayed inside the taxi, was covered.

Greeting the passengers in Japanese with “Nice to meet you,” the driver then offered to take them to a casino for “10,000 yen [$67] per person” and suggested he could introduce them to entertainment venues, even asking to exchange contact information.

Upon arrival in Hongdae, the driver claimed the fare was 45,000 won but offered to lower it to 40,000 won if paid in cash. The standard taxi fare for the roughly 10-kilometer (6.2 mile) route is around 12,000 won. The driver also refused to issue a receipt, saying, “I don’t have one.”

The taxi was later caught in a crackdown. When confronted by the journalists, who revealed they were filming, and asked why he overcharged, the driver replied, “I waited an hour for the passengers in Myeongdong.”

When pressed on why he had not used the meter, the driver said, “I already paid the fine,” before walking away.

TBS reported that, according to Seoul city officials, areas where tourists most often report being overcharged include Myeongdong, southern Seoul's Gangnam District and central Seoul's Itaewon. The city is stepping up crackdowns and conducting surveys, urging victims to report such cases.

Footage of the incident was captured and later circulated on online Korean communities, where users condemned the driver’s behavior.

“Shameful for the country during the Korean Wave,” one comment read, with others saying “Disgrace to the nation” and “His taxi license should be permanently revoked and the fine increased 180 times.”  

“Overcharging taxis should be one-strike-out with permanent bans,” another comment argued, while others said “Waiting an hour in Myeongdong is his problem, not an excuse for gouging,” and “That’s the kind of thing you’d expect in a backward country.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY CHO MUN-GYU [[email protected]]