South Korea Verifies Google Maps Security Measures, Clearing Next Step for Detailed Map Exports

Coordinates Removed as Seoul Checks Google's Safeguards

South Korea has verified that Google removed latitude and longitude displays for South Korean territory from Google Maps and Google Earth, advancing a tightly controlled plan to export detailed national map data. The November 13, 2026, review also examined protections for military facilities, processing on domestic servers and a system requiring action on security complaints within one business day.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said the checks followed its February 27 conditional approval to export maps at a scale of 1:5,000. Google submitted its final compliance report on November 4. Government officials and private specialists reviewed the company's measures through a body coordinated by the National Geographic Information Institute.

Google's next steps involve receiving imagery screened for security risks and map data processed in South Korea, with government review before transfer overseas. Some work remains ahead: imagery supplied through a domestic partner will replace Google's existing pictures, and protections around additional sensitive facilities will expand as that material arrives.

The arrangement could bring fuller driving and walking directions to a service already used by more than 10 million people a month in South Korea. It also creates continuing obligations for Google, including restrictions on what information leaves the country and the possibility of losing its export permission for serious failures.

What Has Changed Since the February Approval?

South Korea's February export approval reversed a position maintained since Google's first request in 2007. Authorities rejected that application and another in 2016 because of concerns about exposing military and security facilities. Google filed its latest request in February 2025, and the decision was postponed three times before approval in February 2026.

The process has since moved from setting conditions to checking the systems intended to carry them out. The main dates are:

• February 2025: Google submitted its latest application to export detailed map data.
• February 5, 2026: Google submitted a supplementary application proposing technical alternatives.
• February 27: South Korea granted conditional export permission.
• August 31: Google signed agreements covering security screened imagery and domestic map processing and supply.
• November 4: Google submitted its final report on compliance with the security conditions.
• November 13: The government review body checked and confirmed the reported measures.

The November review follows an October security warning from Land Minister Hong Ji-seon, who told a National Assembly audit that permission could be suspended or revoked. At that stage, Google had not formally submitted its completion results. Questions at the audit included the visibility of buildings and facility layouts at the Gori nuclear power plant in Busan.

How the Coordinate Restrictions Work

Google developed a dedicated control layer for South Korean territory. A control layer is software that determines what a service may display in a particular area. Officials confirmed that restrictions on latitude and longitude were applied across the global internet and mobile versions of Google Maps and Google Earth, including Android and iOS.

Latitude and longitude are the numbers used to identify an exact position on Earth. Removing their display is one part of South Korea's security requirements, alongside controlling images and the underlying map files.

Google also built checks into its application update process. If an update exposes restricted coordinates, the system is designed to block its release. Government monitoring will therefore cover both the current services and whether later changes preserve the restrictions.

The review body includes ministries responsible for land, science, foreign affairs, unification, defense, interior affairs and industry, together with the National Intelligence Service and private members. Its continuing checks will cover imagery transfers, processed map exports and the operation of the security response system.

Military Images Will Be Replaced, Including Older Views

The National Geographic Information Institute will supply imagery that has already undergone security processing through a domestic partner. Google must display that imagery without modification. The government will keep the complete list of protected facilities, their positions and their areas from being handed directly to Google, because those details are themselves sensitive.

Google currently uses foreign commercial satellite imagery and has temporarily obscured military and security facilities it identified itself. It has applied similar treatment to historical imagery in Google Earth, which allows people to view pictures taken at different times.

Street View photographs have also been deleted inside those identified facilities and on roads within 50 meters of their boundaries. When the domestic imagery is supplied, Google must replace its existing pictures and extend the removal of Street View images to other protected facilities and nearby roads.

The replacement process gives South Korean authorities control over which locations receive protection. It also brings current satellite views, older image archives and photographs taken at street level into the same security framework, rather than addressing only the latest map image.

What TMAP Will Process, and What Stays Out

TMAP Mobility has been selected as Google's domestic map processing partner. Its role is to prepare information on servers in South Korea in a form Google Maps can use. Government reviewed data can then move to Google's overseas servers, while the original national base map remains in South Korea.

The approved export categories are the base map and transportation network information needed for navigation. They include roads, road names, lane counts, speed limits and road geometry, meaning the shapes and connections of roads. Google must preserve the geographic shapes in the processed data it receives. Contour information, which shows the height and shape of the land, is excluded.

A scale of 1:5,000 means one centimeter on a map represents 50 meters on the ground. That level of detail can describe individual roads and building outlines. The government has limited exports to selected information useful for directions while retaining control over sensitive material.

The commercial cooperation covers static information such as road networks, buildings and addresses. TMAP users' personal details, live locations, search histories and driving routes are excluded. The exclusions also cover anonymous movement datasets, positioning and sensor data, and high definition road maps used for more specialized applications.

Google and TMAP have worked together on content since 2008. Their new contract's price and duration have not been disclosed; industry estimates place its value at several million dollars annually.

Who Must Respond When a Security Problem Appears?

The president of Google Korea will serve as the company's designated officer for domestic map affairs. A dedicated team will receive government requests around the clock and immediately pass complaints about exposed facilities or other violations to Google's response team at its United States headquarters.

The system calls for corrective action within one business day of receipt. The continuous intake service and the business day deadline have different roles: officials can submit a request at any hour, while the action timetable is measured in working days.

Large natural disasters or armed conflict could trigger additional measures agreed with the government. Google must be able to change protected areas or disable particular map functions when an emergency requires it. This is the emergency control mechanism included in the export conditions.

The ministry said Google's use of domestic geographic information brings obligations under South Korean spatial information laws. Authorities can issue corrective orders through domestic legal procedures, as they can for local companies. Serious breaches can lead to suspension or revocation of export permission, making compliance an ongoing requirement after the initial checks.

When Could People Get Fuller Google Maps Services?

Google is expected to strengthen its South Korean services using the processed data as early as the beginning of 2027. No confirmed public launch date has been announced. The company has said it has met the land ministry's requirements and looks forward to launching the expanded service.

Google Maps already operates in South Korea, but restrictions on exporting detailed map data have limited its driving and walking navigation. The approved process would let the company use the information needed to offer fuller route guidance through its global systems.

Visitors could benefit by finding their way through an app they already use, rather than switching to a domestic service on arrival. Tourism businesses expect easier navigation in familiar languages to help travelers reach destinations outside central Seoul and smaller neighborhood businesses.

The Culture Ministry estimated on November 12 that cumulative foreign visitor arrivals for the year had passed 20 million for the first time. Better navigation would therefore reach a substantial audience, alongside residents who already use Google's maps for place searches.

A Bigger Market Contest Is Already Under Way

Google Maps recorded about 10.508 million monthly active users in South Korea in October, according to IGAWorks' Mobile Index. It had stayed above 10 million for four consecutive months. Naver Map remained the largest service with about 31.212 million users, followed by T Map with 15.112 million and KakaoMap with about 13.83 million.

February 2025 figures from Mobile Index put Google Maps at 8.8 million users and Naver Map at 26.5 million. Against those earlier figures, Google's monthly audience has grown by about 1.7 million, or 19 percent, while Naver's has increased by about 4.7 million, or 18 percent. Naver's latest monthly audience is nearly three times Google's. People can use several apps, so the figures describe audiences that may overlap.

Domestic companies are already adding features beyond basic directions. Naver Map introduced its conversational Place Agent in September to recommend locations and support reservations. It also combined public transport and navigation information in a Travel tab.

T Map added live road closure information, including corrections based on CCTV when actual marathon traffic restrictions differed from organizers' information. KakaoMap's passenger ship service covers 99 coastal routes and 306 terminals, alongside maps for festivals and other events.

These services show where competition is moving: helping users choose a destination, check its conditions, make a booking and complete the journey. Google could connect improved directions with its search and artificial intelligence services, widening competition into restaurant discovery, hotel reservations and local advertising.

Domestic Investment and Trade Concerns Remain

South Korea's spatial information industry is overwhelmingly made up of small and medium sized enterprises, which account for 99 percent of businesses in the sector. Their concern is whether local companies will gain lasting technology and service opportunities or mainly supply and process data for a much larger platform.

Wi Gwang-jae, an official at a mapping and surveying company, cited annual National Geographic Information Institute spending of 150 billion won on precision map production when questioning the terms of access to publicly funded data. Domestic platforms also argued during a March 2025 consultation that Google should match the investment responsibilities associated with building their services.

Google has proposed cooperation programs with domestic geographic information companies over several years. The government plans to support discussions on technology cooperation and investment. A spatial information cooperation forum is planned for November 23 to explore work with Korean companies in extended reality, augmented reality and spatial artificial intelligence, technologies that connect digital information with physical places.

Industry concerns also focus on Google Maps' presence on Android phones. Domestic businesses want the same security and regulatory duties applied to Google, alongside scrutiny of whether influence in mobile operating systems could restrict competition in maps.

The agreement sits within a longer trade dispute. South Korea had excluded precision map exports from tariff negotiations in August 2025, leaving them to security review. Washington has long treated the restrictions as a barrier to digital trade, while a November 2025 bilateral statement backed transfers of information across borders, including location data. The final arrangement allows processing through domestic partners instead of requiring Google to build its own Korean data center.

James Kim, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea, welcomed the February approval, describing it as:

a constructive step

The practical test now moves to the approved export process: whether protected imagery is replaced, domestic processing produces usable navigation data, and security corrections continue to work as services expand.

Key Points

• South Korea verified Google's security measures on November 13 after receiving its final compliance report on November 4.
• Coordinate display restrictions cover Google Maps and Google Earth across global internet and mobile services.
• TMAP will process selected map information on domestic servers before government reviewed exports.
• Personal information, live locations, search histories and driving routes are excluded from the partnership.
• Government screened imagery will replace existing pictures, with wider removal of Street View around protected facilities.
• Fuller navigation services are expected as early as the beginning of 2027, without a confirmed launch date.
• Serious security failures can lead to suspension or revocation of export permission.