Overview
- An interagency panel led by the land ministry granted approval on Feb. 27 after rejecting similar Google requests in 2007 and 2016 over security concerns.
- Conditions require masking or blurring military and other sensitive facilities and restricting coordinate displays on Google Maps, Google Earth, Street View and time‑series imagery.
- Raw map data must be processed on domestic servers operated by a Korean partner, with only government‑pre‑approved navigation and directions outputs eligible for export.
- Sensitive layers such as contour lines are excluded from transfer, and authorities retain powers to request map revisions, suspend approval or revoke it for noncompliance.
- Google welcomed the decision and plans implementation proposals, a step that could enable full navigation services in a market led by Naver and Kakao as the U.S. has criticized past restrictions as a non‑tariff barrier.