South Korea will soon no longer be one of the few countries where Google Maps does not work properly, after its security-conscious government reversed a two-decade stance to approve the export of high-precision map data to overseas servers.
The approval was made “on the condition that strict security requirements are met”, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement.
Those conditions include blurring military and other sensitive security-related facilities, as well as restricting longitude and latitude coordinates for South Korean territory on products such as Google Maps and Google Earth, it said.
The decision is expected to hurt Naver and Kakao – local internet giants which currently dominate the country’s market for digital map services. But it will appease Washington, which has urged Seoul to tackle what it says is discrimination against US tech companies.
“We welcome today’s decision and look forward to our ongoing collaboration with local officials to bring a fully functioning Google Maps to Korea,” Google vice-president Cris Turner said in a statement.
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South Korea allows Google to access high-precision map data after years of limits
South Korea allows Google to access high-precision map data after years of limits
South Korea, still technically at war with North Korea, had shot down Google’s previous bids in 2007 and 2016 to be allowed to export the data, citing the risks that information about sensitive military and security facilities could be exposed.