Google clears South Korea's map security rules, opening door to full navigation

South Korea's land ministry said Friday that a team of government officials and outside experts had confirmed Google met the security rules for sending detailed national maps overseas, according to the Korea Herald. That clears a path for the company to offer full navigation in the country after 19 years of disputes with Seoul. The conditions were set on February 27, when South Korea let Google export highly detailed 1:5,000-scale maps; Google filed its final report on November 4.

Google held up its end by stripping exact locations in South Korea out of Google Maps and Google Earth — on the websites and the Android and iPhone apps. It also built a system that blocks app updates carrying location details that aren't allowed, so the removed data can't creep back in. Street View images of military and security sites are gone, along with roads within 50 meters of them, and older images of those areas were pulled from Google Earth. For now the company leans on satellite imagery from foreign firms and has temporarily blurred sensitive sites it spotted itself, according to Businesskorea.

What Google gets to send overseas is basic: road layouts, lane counts and speed limits, unchanged. Under South Korean law, maps more detailed than 1:25,000 need the land minister's approval — and at 1:5,000 scale, one centimeter represents 50 meters on the ground. Seoul won't reveal the exact locations or sizes of military and security sites; the National Geographic Information Institute will mask them before a local company passes the images to Google. That deal was signed on August 31.

The rules come with teeth. The head of Google Korea is now responsible for map-related issues, backed by a 24-hour system for government requests: if Seoul reports a security problem, that official must alert Google's headquarters immediately and get it fixed within one working day. Google also drew up emergency plans for war or major natural disasters, letting it coordinate with the government to shift restricted areas or switch off map features. A government official told the Korea Herald it will keep checking Google's compliance, and Seoul can suspend or cancel the permit if rules are seriously broken. The strictness has roots — the Korean War ran from 1950 to 1953 and ended without a peace treaty, leaving the South technically at war with the North.

Next up: Google picked Tmap Mobility to prepare maps for its South Korean services, industry sources told the Korea Herald, and could start using data stored on Korean servers as early as 2027. The arrangement covers only roads, buildings and addresses — no personal information, current locations or search history, and no travel routes or richer location data. Neither company said how long the deal lasts or what it's worth; industry estimates put it at several million dollars a year. The pair have worked together since 2008, and Tmap supplies navigation systems to more than 20 carmakers worldwide, including Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volvo.