Horse carriages offering recreational rides in central Seoul are charging more for foreign passengers.

The carriages, which offer rides during the weekend, have signs announcing their prices on the back, many of which give a price of 10,000 won for a family, or 10,000 won each for foreign passengers. Others charge a flat fare of 20,000 won a group.

Such price discrimination is not allowed under the rules of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, of which Korea is a member.

Seoul City officials said that they were not aware of the pricing, and that since it was a private business they could not say how it was run. They said they were not aware of any department in charge of the privately run carriages, meaning it was difficult to regulate them if they obeyed the traffic laws.

Earlier protests outside City Hall have called on the city government to stop the carriages from operating on grounds of animal welfare.

By Paul Kerry (paulkerry@heraldcorp.com)