Former Tada CEO found not guilty by Supreme Court

Lee Jae-woong, former CEO of Socar, is pictured in front of the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on Sept. 29, 2022. [NEWS1]

Former CEO of car-sharing app Socar Lee Jae-woong was acquitted by the Supreme Court on Thursday, who was indicted on transportation law violation charges for the company's ride-hailing service, Tada.

Lee and VCNC's former CEO Park Jae-uk were indicted without detention in 2019 for operating the service, which was accused of violating the Passenger Transport Service Act with its van-hailing service Tada Basic.

VCNC operates Tada and is an affiliate of Socar.

Tada claimed its service was legal "as a car rental service which includes drivers."

Lower courts had previously found Lee and Park not guilty, ruling in their favor.

The Supreme Court upheld the original verdicts, saying the defendants "did not misinterpret clauses of the former transportation law."

Lee stepped down from his position in 2020 after he was found innocent in a lower court to take responsibility for the suspension of Tada Basic service.

Park took over Lee's position as Socar's CEO.

Lee founded Socar as a car-sharing service in 2011. With Socar's affiliate VCNC, Lee released Tada in 2018.

VCNC indefinitely terminated its Tada Basic service in 2020 after a revision to the transportation law banned services providing vans with drivers.

Tada still provides services such as Tada Light and Tada Next, which do not violate transportation law.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]