South Korea would 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 South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said.
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.
Photo: AFP
The decision is expected to hurt Naver and Kakao — local Internet giants which dominate the country’s market for digital map services. However, it would 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.
South Korea had shot down Google’s previous bids to be allowed to export the data, citing the risks that information about sensitive military and security facilities could be exposed.
The data in question is 1:5,000 scale data, where 1cm on a map represents 50m in actual distance.
Google said it needs to export the data to provide real-time navigation information worldwide. This includes people researching South Korean destinations from overseas.
The conditions stipulate that Google must process map data on locally based servers, and is only allowed to export data related to navigation and direction services that have been preapproved by the government.
The South Korean government also reserves the right to request revisions to maps, and Google must set up a security incident prevention framework to respond to emergency issues.
Kyung Hee University geography professor Choi Jin-mu said the decision raised serious questions about market control and national security.
“Google can now come in, slash usage fees, and take the market. If Naver and Kakao are weakened or pushed out and Google later raises prices, that becomes a monopoly,” Choi said. “Companies that rely on map services — logistics firms, for example — become dependent, and in the long run, even government GIS [geographic information systems] could end up dependent on Google or Apple. That’s the biggest concern.”
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South Korea would 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 South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. 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
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