After 20 years since Google Maps was introduced, the South Korean government is finally allowing the app to map areas in the country, with some strict additional conditions.
If you’ve been to South Korea, you’ll notice that until today, the Google Maps app didn’t come with precise geolocation of areas. This is due to concerns about leaks of information about South Korea’s reportedly secret military locations, which has caused many overseas mapping apps, including Google Maps, to not come with specific mapping.
This seems to be changing as the South Korean government has finally agreed to allow Google Maps to map South Korea in more detail, allowing users to not only use Google Maps, but also map via Google Earth as well.
One strict condition imposed by the South Korean government is that Google must obscure certain locations such as military and security locations throughout the country. Not only that, the coordinate mapping function will also be turned off when Google Maps is used in South Korea to reduce the likelihood of any location being targeted by attacks, especially by North Korea.
In South Korea, mapping apps typically use maps that have been approved by the government before they are allowed for public use. It is currently unclear whether Google will follow suit, or if they will map the country's streets and locations themselves.
