Korea weighs Google's high-precision map request as deadline nears
A government inter-agency council — led by the National Geographic Information Institute under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport — will meet to deliberate the US tech giant's request to export a 1:5,000 scale digital map of Korea. The panel comprises eight agencies, including the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Science and ICT.
The council was initially expected to rule in May but deferred the decision deadline to Aug. 11 for further review of national security and industrial implications. Industry sources now suggest the outcome may again be postponed, possibly until after the Korea–US summit.
'There is a possibility the deadline will be extended once more, after consolidating views among ministries,' said a government official who requested anonymity. 'Announcing a decision before the summit could risk turning it into a diplomatic issue.'
Currently, Google Maps displays Korea at a less detailed 1:25,000 scale. The requested 1:5,000 scale version qualifies as a high-precision dataset capable of showing structures, roads and terrain with a granularity of 1 centimeter per 50 meters — far more detail than is currently available.
The US tech giant submitted similar requests in 2007 and 2016, both of which were denied by the Korean government due to national security concerns.
The government has maintained a conditional stance, indicating that export of such data may be permitted if strict security conditions are met — including the blurring of sensitive facilities, removal of coordinate metadata and local server hosting.
Google maintains that the requested maps are not military-grade but rather 'basic national maps' that pose minimal risk.
In a blog post earlier this week, the company said, 'The 1:5,000 scale maps are considered 'low detail' and do not qualify as high-precision maps by academic or industrial standards.'
In response, the Korean government has pushed back, warning that even basic maps, when combined with real-time location data, could expose sensitive information.
Land Minister Kim Yoon-deok reiterated in his July confirmation hearing that 'while diplomatic and commercial interests matter, national defense and public safety must take precedence.'
Domestic platform companies have also expressed concern. Many argue that the current 1:25,000 scale is sufficient for general navigation services and that Google's push for higher precision is unwarranted.
'According to the Land Ministry, the 1:5,000 digital topographic map is classified as a high-precision map,' said an industry source who requested anonymity. 'Google's claim that it's low-detail does not align with reality.'
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