May 03, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Google’s attempt to export South Korea’s map data is facing roadblocks despite the soaring popularity of its augmented reality smartphone game “Pokemon Go”, with the government and opposition parties set to block it on national security concerns.

The main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea and the second-biggest People’s Party last week urged the government to deny it permission to store detailed map information at its global data center located outside the country.

The government has refused to relax restrictions on the mapping service unless Google censors sensitive installations. Relevant agencies will hold a meeting on Aug. 12 with the internet giant.

“If the government does a special favor (to Google), it will be violating its own laws and principles,” said Rep. Shin Cheol-yeon of the People’s Party on Aug 4. The opposition parties are planning to raise their objections to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which overseas mapping policy.

The debate over map data has come to the fore as smartphone users in South Korea are unable to “Pokemon Go,” a GPS-based augmented reality game that involves users roaming the streets to capture virtual monsters.

Though the game’s developer and distributor Niantic, a spin-off from Google’s parent Alphabet, has yet to specify the reasons for not making the game available here, industry watchers speculate it is because full-fledged services of Google Maps are not available.

South Korea is one of the few places in the world where the mapping service is restricted. Google claims it needs to export Korea’s map information to offer signature functions such as 3-D maps, walking and driving directions and car navigation features.

But the government refuted the argument, suggesting that the GPS-based mobile game does not require detailed geographic information to operate properly. “The launch of ‘Pokemon Go’ in South Korea has nothing to do with Google’s request for map data,” an official said.

According to South Korean law related to management of map data, geographic information is prohibited from being released overseas without the authorization of the president and transportation Minister, or a consensus among heads of government agencies dealing with security issues.

The exception clause was included in 2014 as a part of President Park Geun-hye’s deregulation initiative aiming at improving innovation in business. Encouraged by the amendment, Google last month made a request to the Transport Ministry to access the country’s map information.

But the prospect of the negotiations -- with a decision expected to be announced after the meeting on Aug. 12 -- remains to be seen as the government has offered a counter proposal that bothers Google: removal of sensitive facilities in South Korea from the company’s global map images.

The government has insisted that the image of key facilities, such as presidential office and military units, should be either blurred or camouflaged because the nations is still technically at war with North Korea and needs to brace for potential security threat.

Google, however, said that South Korea cannot be treated differently from other nations. The internet company noted that the Google Maps’ geographic images are virtually the same in all nations and that changing the system in favor of South Korea is difficult thing to do.

Google’s domestic competitors have mostly criticized the move. South Korea’s leading search engine Naver’s Chairman Lee Hae-jin urged Google to abide by Korea law, comparing the US company’s request to an attempt to engage in “unfair” business practice.

“The point is to ask (Google) to place its server in South Korea, not to block its service altogether,” said the chairman at a press conference on Jul 15. “Google’s technology is advanced enough to run its server here. Just asking the government to change the law doesn’t make sense when they failed to meet their obligations as a business firm,” he said.

By Yeo Jun-suk/The Korea Herald (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)