S. KOREA CONDITIONALLY APPROVES GOOGLE'S OVERSEAS TRANSFER OF HIGH-PRECISION MAP DATA

SEOUL, Feb 27 (Bernama-Yonhap) -- The South Korean government on Friday decided to allow global tech giant Google to transfer government-supplied high-precision map data to its overseas facilities, contingent on supplementary measures to address security concerns, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which oversees national mapping policy, made the decision after holding a meeting with officials from foreign, defence and other related ministries.

"We approved the overseas transfer on condition that Google strictly comply with security guidelines," the ministry said, adding that the conditions include measures to mask sensitive facilities, restrict the exposure of precise coordinates and use local servers to process data.

Regarding data processing, in particular, the government called on Google to handle raw data at its Korean partner's data centre located in the country while allowing only navigation service-related map data to be transferred overseas.

Sensitive data, including contour lines, are not subject to overseas transfer, the ministry added.

Google is also required to designate a local official responsible for communicating with the government to promptly respond to potential security incidents.

Google welcomed the government's decision, saying it will come up with concrete service implementation plans.

"We welcome today's decision and look forward to our ongoing collaboration with local officials to bring a fully functioning Google Maps to Korea," Cris Turner, vice president for government affairs and public policy at Google, said in a release.

The latest decision came after two previous rejections by the Seoul government in 2007 and 2016, citing security concerns.

The United States earlier cited restrictions on high-precision map data as a non-tariff trade barrier.

Google filed its latest request in February 2025, seeking approval for the transfer of 1:5,000-scale high-precision map data to its overseas data centres.

This time, Google expressed its willingness to accept South Korea's security requirements by removing coordinate data for the South Korean region from its maps and blurring the images of facilities deemed sensitive.

Google currently provides South Korean maps using publicly available 1:25,000-scale map data combined with aerial and satellite imagery.

The company has said government-supplied map data is essential to offering full-fledged mapping services, including vehicle navigation and driving directions, in South Korea, one of the world's most wired nations.

Under South Korean rules, companies are required to store detailed map data on servers located in the country.

Korean tech companies, such as Naver Corp. and Kakao Corp., provide more detailed navigation services than foreign providers.

-- BERNAMA-YONHAP