Why Google Maps is still broken in South Korea: It might not be about national security anymore

The Star

18-05-2025

SEOUL: It's 2025, and if you try to get walking directions in Seoul using Google Maps, you will still run into the same dead end: the "Can't find a way there" screen.
For many tourists, it's both frustrating and baffling. Google Maps offers turn-by-turn walking directions in cities as far-flung as Pyongyang, the capital of the hermit kingdom of North Korea — yet, in Seoul, one of the most digitally advanced cities in the world, it can't guide you from your hotel to the nearest subway station?
For almost two decades, the issue has been blamed on national security. South Korea has strict laws that block the export of high-precision map data, supposedly to prevent misuse by hostile actors. But in 2025, that argument is wearing thin, and a more fundamental tension is coming into focus: Should Google be allowed to freely commercialise taxpayer-funded public data without meeting the standards that domestic companies must follow?
Google says it needs Korea's best map. But that's only half the story.
The map at the centre of this issue is a government-built, high-resolution 1:5000 digital base map maintained by the National Geographic Information Institute. It's publicly funded, annually updated, and rich with layers like sidewalks, pedestrian crossings and road boundaries. Any Korean citizen or entity can access and use it for free.
Google claims that without exporting this data to its global servers, it cannot fully enable core features like walking, biking or driving navigation.
The global map giant, which relies on processing map data through its global infrastructure, has repeatedly asked the Korean government for permission to export the NGII base map. Its latest request, filed in February this year, is the third since the issue first surfaced in 2007 and again in 2016. A final decision from the government is expected this August.
But experts say Google's "we can't do it without the map' argument is overstated.
'Yes, the 1:5,000 map would help, especially for pinpointing pedestrian pathways,' said Choi Jin-moo, a geographic information science professor at Kyung Hee University. 'But Google could build the necessary layers on its own, using its vast trove of satellite imagery and AI processing, just like it does in countries that don't share any base map data at all.'
The evidence is all around. OpenStreetMap, a crowdsourced platform, offers walking navigation in South Korea. So does Apple Maps, despite not having access to NGII's dataset or exporting any official Korean geospatial data.
Google already provides walking directions in places like Pyongyang, where mapping data is sparse, and in countries like Israel and China, which impose strict restrictions on geospatial exports. 'If Google can make it work in North Korea,' Choi said, 'then clearly the map is not the only barrier.'
To be fair, this doesn't mean Apple Maps' walking routes in South Korea are actually any good. For example, it doesn't show crosswalks, stairs or underpasses. Naver Map and Kakao Map do, because it has access to the ready-made detailed data.
But even then, what professor Choi posits is that, what Google gains by accessing the NGII map might not be feasibility, but convenience. "Rather than spending time and money building its own map layers, it would get a ready-made foundation that is free, publicly funded, and immediately monetizable through ads and API licensing," Choi added.
Google Maps offers full walking (left) and driving (right) directions in Pyongyang, North Korea — features that remain unavailable in South Korea. - Screenshots from Google Maps
S. Korea's national security argument is crumbling
South Korea's longstanding concern is that exporting detailed mapping data could expose key infrastructure to hostile threats, particularly from North Korea. But experts argue that in 2025, this reasoning no longer holds up to scrutiny.
'You can already buy sub-meter commercial satellite imagery of South Korea from private providers,' said Choi Ki-il, professor of military studies at Sangji University.
In its latest proposal, Google offered to blur sensitive sites if the government supplies coordinates. But even that sparked legal concerns. Under Korea's military laws, simply compiling a list of protected locations could be a violation.
The real issue, Choi believes, is the symbolic discomfort of ceding data sovereignty to a global tech platform.
'There's a psychological reluctance to let any part of our national digital infrastructure sit on foreign servers,' he said. 'But we need to be honest about the threat level."
'This is primarily about control, not national security or technical capability,' said professor Yoo Ki-yoon, a smart city infrastructure expert at Seoul National University. 'Google wants to integrate Korea into its global system on its terms, without storing data locally, without paying Korean taxes at the level domestic firms do, and without meaningful oversight.'
Who really stands to gain or lose?
The economic stakes are just as complex as the technical ones. South Korea's location-based services market is worth over 11 trillion won ($7.6 billion) according to 2023 Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport data, with over 99 percent of companies in the space being small or mid-sized. These firms rely on the same public mapping data Google wants, but they do so under heavy conditions. They must store the data domestically, pay full local taxes, and invest in additional surveying and development.
Giving Google free access, critics warn, could reshape the market in its favor. Developers might rush to build on Google's API, only to find themselves locked into a system where prices spike later, just as they did in 2018 when Google restructured its Maps API pricing globally.
'There's a risk of long-term dependency,' said Ryo Seol-ri, a researcher at the Korea Tourism Organization. 'Right now, Korean platforms like Naver and Kakao have limitations, but at least they're governed by Korean rules. If Google becomes the dominant layer, we lose that control.'
Still, Ryo admits the issue is far from urgent for most stakeholders. 'From a tourism perspective, this isn't what drives people to or from Korea. Visitors are definitely inconvenienced, but they expect to be. It's baked into the experience now.'
That may be the most important reason the situation hasn't changed, and likely won't any time soon.
There's no single player with the incentive to fix it. The Korean government doesn't want to set a precedent by giving up control of its mapping infrastructure. Google doesn't want to build from scratch if it can pressure its way into a shortcut. And while tourists may grumble, broken Google Maps hasn't kept them from coming.
Tourism professor Kim Nam-jo of Hanyang University said, 'Improving map usability would make Korea more tourist-friendly, sure, but it won't suddenly boost visitor numbers. That's why no one sees it as urgent enough to fix.' - The Korea Herald/ANN