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Korea kicks Google Maps data decision to next administration

Published: 14 May. 2025, 19:05 Updated: 14 May. 2025, 19:47

PAIK JI-HWAN
[email protected]

The new Google logo is pictured in this illustration from May 13. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Korea will decide whether or not to provide its detailed map data to Google in August, after the June 3 presidential election, the government said Wednesday.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's review panel concluded that deeper discussion regarding the impacts of the decision on national security and domestic industry must take place.

The ministry will gather opinions from the geospatial information industry and other related fields through Aug. 11 to decide whether to permit the provision of high-precision map data to the tech giant.

Google currently uses publicly accessible 1:25,000-scale map data in combination with aerial and satellite images to provide Korean maps, resulting in lower-resolution services than those of countries where Google receives governmental data. Google Maps lacks walking and driving directions as well as turn-by-turn navigation in Korea, making it a less favorable choice than domestic services run by Naver and Kakao.

Under Korean law, it is illegal to transfer map or other land survey data abroad without the authorization of the land minister, with exceptions for the purposes of governmental exchange, international conferences or tourism promotion.

Google made a request in February to the state-run National Geographic Information Institute asking to transfer the 1:5,000-scale high-precision map data to its data centers abroad, the third request of its kind. The Korean government had denied the past two requests, citing national security risks such as the potential disclosure of military installations and other sensitive sites.

In 2016, the government suggested that Google set up a server in Korea and use the detailed map data within domestic grounds. Google refused.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]