The heat has flared up in South Korea’s mobility sector that has far lagged behind other countries due to regulatory hurdles, with big corporate names moving into the burgeoning segment and chasing talents from earlier players.

Korea’s largest car-sharing service provider SoCar has lodged an official complaint against the leading wireless carrier SK Telecom that teamed up with U.S. ride-hailing giant Uber to launch a multi-service mobility platform T Map Mobility in Korea after spinning off its mobility business.

SK Telecom has reportedly been chasing SoCar executives and employees to join its new mobility platform company. About 30 of 300 SoCar employees are said to have been approached by SK Telecom.

SK Holdings, the holding company of SK Group, is the second-largest shareholder of SoCar with a 22.25 percent stake. The company has backed the startup since 2016, putting SoCar in an awkward position.

“Although scouting itself is not bad, SK should play fair to win consumers honestly through services,” an official from SoCar said.

SK Telecom, latecomer in the mobility business, has been on eager head hunting.

42dot, a mobility startup invested by Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp., is also known to have delivered a warning to SK Telecom for trying to snatch away employees.

Sources noted that a considerable number of employees and executives of Kakao Mobility have also received offers from SK Telecom.

An unnamed official from Kakao Mobility declined to comment on the issue but noted that it has seen a growing number of job applicants in its latest open recruitment, signaling more interest overall in the mobility market.

Since last month, T Map Mobility, has been recruiting experienced employees through job portals in a wide range of areas, not only developers in map, server, and data processing sectors but also designers, and those in management, corporate affairs, and PR.

On Thursday, SK Telecom shareholders approved the spinoff of T Map Mobility. The company announced the new entity will officially be launched on Dec. 29.

An unnamed official from SK Telecom said that with its new mobility platform service, it will focus on the development of new services that can compete with promising services from startups.

By Oh Dae-seok and Lee Eun-joo

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]