Will Google Comply with Seoul's Map Data Security Demands?

Seoul, Sep 9 (NationPress) On Tuesday, Google announced its decision to adhere to the security requirements set forth by the South Korean government regarding the removal of coordinates for the Korean region from its mapping services. This step is aimed at obtaining the necessary approval for the export of high-precision map data overseas.

During a press briefing in Seoul, Cris Turner, the vice president for government affairs and public policy at Google, stated, “We are introducing two additional measures to alleviate any lingering national security worries expressed by the government.”

He elaborated, “To enhance our navigation services in Korea, we are bolstering our long-term collaboration with local technology firms.”

Turner also mentioned, “We will eliminate latitude and longitude coordinates for locations within Korea,” complying with requests from the Seoul government.

As part of this initiative, Google is contemplating the acquisition of government-sanctioned satellite images from local partners like Tmap Mobility Corp., a mobility platform under SK Square.

This initiative follows Google's earlier decision to obscure sensitive locations on its maps and satellite imagery as part of efforts to mitigate Seoul's security apprehensions.

These comments were made after the government postponed its decision last month on Google's application to export South Korea’s 1:5,000-scale high-precision map data.

South Korea prohibits the overseas transfer of high-precision maps with scales finer than 1:25,000 due to military and security concerns.

In February, Google approached the state-run National Geographic Information Institute (NGII) to seek approval for transferring the map data to its international data centers.

This marks Google's third attempt at this approval, following similar requests in 2007 and 2016.

The proposal has sparked significant debate due to fears that exporting detailed map data could potentially reveal military bases and other sensitive installations. It is important to note that South Korea remains technically at war with North Korea, as the Korean War concluded without a peace treaty.

In 2016, the South Korean government mandated that Google obscure sensitive sites on its maps, utilize blurred images sourced locally, or establish a local data center—conditions that Google previously rejected.

Google reiterated that the 1:5,000-scale map data is a publicly available national base map, approved by the NGII and currently utilized by most domestic mapping services in Korea.

“To offer comprehensive navigation services, we depend on the 1:5,000 data,” remarked Yoo Young-seok, the director of global communications at Google Korea. “Globally, no other nations impose such government approvals for processing a 1:5,000 base map.”

He added that in other countries, private companies supply 1:5,000-scale maps without requiring governmental consent for exports.

However, Korean platform operators like Naver Corp. and Kakao Corp. rely on the NGII national base map for their navigation services through their domestic data centers.

Some analysts suggest that Google's hesitation to establish a data center in Korea might be associated with concerns over corporate taxation.

In response to the government’s 2016 proposal for Google to set up a local data center to circumvent export complications, Yoo remarked that this idea is impractical.