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Seoul, Feb 27: The government on Friday decided to allow global tech giant Google to transfer government-supplied high-precision map data of South Korea to its overseas facilities, contingent on supplementary measures to address security concerns
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, reports Yonhap news agency.
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 centers.
Earlier this month, the U.S. technology giant provided supplementary materials regarding its request to the ministry.
The additional submission is said to have met most of the conditions sought by the government, including measures to mask sensitive domestic security facilities and restrict the exposure of precise coordinates.
The documents also reportedly include technical explanations detailing how Google would process and manage the map data going forward. However, they do not contain concrete plans to establish a data centre in South Korea, according to the sources.
Currently, Google provides map services in South Korea using publicly available 1:25,000-scale map data combined with aerial and satellite imagery. The United States has previously cited restrictions on high-precision map data as a key non-tariff barrier.
Google made similar requests to export high-precision map data in 2007 and 2016, but South Korea had rejected them, citing national security concerns over the potential exposure of military bases and other sensitive facilities.
In November, however, a government consultative panel requested that the company submit revised documents by February 5, suspending the review process until then.
The panel said Google had expressed willingness to comply with South Korea's security requirements, including removing coordinate data for the country from its maps, but such measures were not reflected in the documents initially submitted.
—IANS