South Korea - rejects Google's request to export map data: ARIRANG NEWS

ARIRANG NEWS

Published on Nov 18, 2016

정부, 구글 '지도 반출' 불허…'안보위협 가중우려
Korea has rejected a request from Google that it be allowed to send map data supplied by the government to its servers overseas.

The government cited security concerns,... but some are worried the decision will stop Google from providing services that would be useful to local businesses.

Kim Ji-yeon reports. 

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has finally put a lid on the controversy sparked by Google's request in June to export the country's map data to its foreign servers.

The ministry had previously said it would deliberate on the matter for two months, giving itself a deadline of November 23rd.

The ministry blamed Google for not accepting the government's conditions and for failing to address its security concerns by either deleting or blurring the locations of military facilities and the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae on its maps.

The ministry believes the layering of Google Maps' satellite images with government-supplied map data could be used to target state properties if acquired by enemy forces.

Although Google has implemented the requested changes on its Korean versions of the Google Maps service, the U.S. tech giant has refrained from deleting or blurring the sites on foreign versions of the program,... saying it's out of their discretionary authority and would ultimately lessen the quality of its map services.

Google also argued that satellite images and data indicating the sites in question have already been widely distributed worldwide... and blurring or deleting sensitive sites now would not help in improving Korea's security.

This is the second time the government has turned down Google's request for the data; the first was in 2010.
Google has asked for the map data since 2007... so that it could offer more services in Korea... including vehicle navigation, real-time traffic updates and three-dimensional images.

Without the data, the U.S. tech giant is able to offer only 20-percent of the services regularly tied to Google Maps.

Some have said the potential benefits of granting the request would be immense and could offer local IT businesses and start-ups a great tool for creating new services that would help pave the way for entry into new markets.

Others have argued, however, that local portal service providers would be forced out of the competition due to Google's dominance of the market.

Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News.