South Korea will finally get a fully functional Google Maps
South Korea will finally get a fully functional Google Maps
South Korea will no longer be one of the few nations where Google Maps does not function properly after its security-conscious government permitted the export of high-precision map data to foreign servers.
SEOUL, South Korea—South Korea will soon no longer be one of the few nations where Google Maps does not work properly, after its security-conscious government altered a two-decade attitude and approved the export of high-precision map data to outside servers.
The license was granted “on the condition that strict security requirements are met,” according to a statement from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport.
According to the report, these conditions include blurring military and other important security sites, as well as blocking longitude and latitude coordinates for South Korean land on Google Maps and Google Earth.
The ruling is expected to affect Naver and Kakao, the local internet behemoths that now dominate the country’s digital map services sector. However, it will placate Washington, which has pressed Seoul to address what it claims is discrimination against US technology companies.
South Korea, which is still officially at war with North Korea, rejected Google’s prior efforts to export the data in 2007 and 2016, citing the risk of exposing key military and security facilities.
While South Korea did not explicitly prohibit Google Maps, other countries have taken a more stringent approach. It is illegal in mainland China, North Korea, Syria, and Vietnam, for example.
The data in question is 1:5000 scale data, which means that one centimeter on a map represents 50 meters of actual distance. Google has stated that it needs to export the data in order to deliver real-time navigation information around the world. This includes people seeking South Korean locations from other countries.
The criteria state that Google must handle map data on locally based servers and can only export data relating to navigation and direction services that have been pre-approved by the government.