This image is unrelated to the article. [Yonhap]
This image is unrelated to the article. [Yonhap]

A woman has come forward with an account of a Seoul taxi driver making offensive remarks about her weight during a ride.

The story, submitted by a woman identified only as A, was featured on JTBC's "Sageon Banjang," a TV news magazine program, on Wednesday.

A, a woman in her 30s who had lived abroad for an extended period before returning to South Korea in April, boarded a taxi on Wednesday to visit her mother's home in Gangseo-gu, Seoul.

Dressed in workout clothes, she had barely settled in when the driver began making comments about body weight.

Rather than raising general health concerns, the driver said, "These days, whether it's a man or a woman, having a belly is unattractive," and went on to claim that in some countries, overweight people pay higher insurance premiums, higher taxi fares and more expensive airfares.

He then went further, saying, "Overweight people are not smarter than thin people — absolutely not. That's just the truth," and added that body weight was reportedly factored into employee performance reviews.

At first, A tried to brush off the remarks. She was not even certain the driver was directing his comments at her specifically.

But when she attempted to change the subject and the driver kept returning to the topic of body shape and weight, she began recording the conversation on video as a precaution.

"I cannot say for certain whether the driver was targeting me," A said, "but I felt uncomfortable and even frightened hearing repeated comments about body shape from a complete stranger. I wanted to report this to let people know that remarks a taxi driver makes without thinking can be genuinely terrifying for a passenger."

Attorney Son Su-ho, who reviewed the case, said the situation was hard to understand given that the two were strangers, and cautioned that comments taxi drivers make offhandedly can, depending on the circumstances, cause real fear in passengers. He advised drivers to exercise particular care in conversations with passengers.

Meanwhile, passengers in Seoul who experience discomfort during a taxi ride can file a complaint around the clock by calling the 120 Dasan Call Center or using the Seoul Smart Complaint app.

Under the Passenger Transport Service Act, a taxi driver who refuses a passenger's requested route, uses informal or abusive language, makes sexually discriminatory or harassing remarks, or engages in conduct that causes embarrassment or humiliation can be fined 100,000 won ($71). Transport operators may also face a business suspension — 20 days for a first offense, 40 days for a second and 60 days for a third — or fines of 1.2 million won for a first offense, 2.4 million won for a second and 3.6 million won for a third.

When filing a complaint, passengers should have the taxi's license plate number on hand along with supporting evidence such as a receipt, photographs or video footage.


betterj@heraldcorp.com