Google has provided the South Korean government with extra documents concerning the transfer of the country’s high-precision map data overseas. The U.S. tech giant sent these supplementary materials to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport within the set deadline. The submission reportedly meets most of the government’s conditions, such as safeguarding sensitive security sites and limiting precise coordinate exposure.
The documents also contain technical explanations on how Google intends to handle the map data moving forward. However, they do not outline plans for establishing a data center in South Korea. The government will review the newly submitted materials in an upcoming interagency meeting to decide on approving the data transfer abroad. A final decision is anticipated to be made over the next few months.
Google’s recent request, made in February 2025, seeks approval for transferring high-precision map data at a 1:5,000 scale to its overseas data centers. In response to a government consultative panel’s request, Google revised its documents by the specified deadline after the review process was temporarily halted. The company had shown willingness to comply with South Korea’s security requirements, but these measures were not initially reflected in the submitted documents.
Currently, Google offers map services in South Korea using publicly available 1:25,000-scale map data along with aerial and satellite imagery. The U.S. has previously highlighted restrictions on high-precision map data as a significant non-tariff barrier. Google had previously sought approval to export such data in 2007 and 2016, but South Korea had rejected these requests due to national security concerns regarding potential exposure of military bases and sensitive facilities.
