So
what are the benefits of taking part in the sharing economy?
There are several.
First, owners of underused assets can make money from them, while the people who are
renting those assets pay less than they would if they were to buy the item outright.
or opt for more traditional ways of consumption.
For sociable souls, it is a channel to meet new people.
And there are environmental benefits: renting a car when you need it, rather than owning
one, means fewer cars on the road and therefore less pollution.
Which is one of the reasons the Seoul Metropolitan Government is embracing the "sharing economy"
trend.
Listen to Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, . who was a keynote speaker at the Smart Cloud Show
in Seoul last Thursday.
"In this age, with a lack of resources and more concerns for our environment, sharing
is a viable solution and is already seen as an evolving way of life.
The "sharing economy" is the way to go for a new pattern of consumption in the near future.
In response, the city of Seoul declared itself a "sharing city" last September and is actively
working toward this vision and goal."
Those are the benefits of the sharing economy.
What about the drawbacks?
Are there any?
The main concern is regulatory uncertainty.
The laws that currently dictate and govern business activity may not fully reflect this
trend of sharing.
For instance, home- or room-sharing services are regulated in many countries with laws
that prohibit individuals from periodically leasing out rooms.
That also applies to car-sharing and carpooling services.
The founder and CEO of Korea Carsharing, Ha Ho-seon , offered an example.
He said that it's currently illegal in Korea to share automobiles with others without a
license from the municipal government.
My company receives financial support from the Seoul Metropolitan Government, but there's
still a lot of room for improvement.
"For example, in order to expand our services to other areas in the country, we have to
apply separately for a license in that municipal government, and that takes a lot of time and
money.
That also affects the quality of our service to the public."
Ha also added that there are many people who use our vehicles that want to be able to move
around freely rather than be restricted to the city of Seoul.
All right.
How is the city of Seoul responding to this fairly new concept of a "sharing economy"?
They ackowledge to a certain degree that the current laws are not suited to a "sharing
economy."
But they say that they are working to change that.
Kim Ji-yeong works for the Social Innovation Division in the Seoul Metropolitan Government,
which was set up last year to achieve Seoul's vision of a "sharing city."
"We are trying to seek more cooperation with other municipal governments and state-run
institutions that have shown an interest in our vision of sharing.
For example, last year the municipal government of Gwangju and the Busan Development Institute
showed an interest our "sharing city" initiative and asked for help in achieving that goal."
Whether it's homes or cars, start-up companies are using the "sharing economy" and finding
ways to utilize the world's idle assets and provide a platform to make them more resourceful.
The city of Seoul seems to embrace this new trend by responding to the companies needs.
Definitely a new trend that's increasingly attracting the attention of many both here
in Korea and elsewhere around the world.
That was Kim Ji-yeon reporting on the rise of a sharing economy.
Thank you Ji-yeon for that report.