South Korea’s largest messenger app provider, Daum Kakao, will launch a cab-hailing app in the country early next year, working with licensed taxi drivers in a move to avoid the backlash that Uber Technologies has faced in the Korean market.

Daum Kakao aims to launch the service, Kakao Taxi, in the first quarter of 2015 with two separate apps: one for the taxi drivers, which will be out first to recruit enough cabs to the service, and another for passengers, the company said Wednesday. The service will be available across the country and the apps will run on both Android and iOS, it said.

Global ride-sharing service Uber Technologies has faced strong resistance in South Korea. The government vowed to ban it last July, calling the service illegal as it can be used by unlicensed drivers to run rental vehicles for a commercial purpose. The San Francisco company went on to open its Uber Black limousine hire service in Korea in August, adding Uber Taxi in October and Uber X in December.

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