South Korea opens the door to let Google Maps operate fully | TechCrunch

"South Korea has resisted Google's appeals since 2011, arguing that the company's precise satellite maps could endanger national security by exposing sensitive military sites when combined with commercial imagery and online data. Given that South Korea remains technically at war with North Korea, the government is cautious about exposing such locations."

"The green light comes with strict rules designed to protect sensitive military and infrastructure sites. The South Korean government will verify compliance before any data leaves the country; any images of South Korean territory used in Google Maps and Google Earth must comply with national security regulations; and historical imagery in Google Earth and Street View must obscure sensitive military sites."

"Google is also required to either remove or limit coordinate data for South Korean locations, and only essential data for navigation and routing can be exported. The government also requires all data processing to be done on servers operated by Google's local partners."

South Korea has granted conditional approval for Google to export high-precision geographic information, reversing a long-standing data restriction policy that had limited Maps functionality since 2011. The approval enables Google to provide full navigation features like turn-by-turn directions and real-time driving information. South Korea previously restricted data exports citing national security concerns, particularly regarding sensitive military sites near North Korea. The conditional approval includes stringent requirements: government verification of compliance, mandatory obscuring of military installations in imagery, removal or limitation of coordinate data, processing on local partner servers, and prompt updates to security sites. Only essential navigation and routing data can be exported, while sensitive topographic and military information remains prohibited.

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