If you’re planning to make a trip to South Korea anytime soon, your journey could be getting a little easier, particularly if you’re someone who struggles with getting around.
South Korea is planning to reverse a longstanding policy that has made travel mainstay Google Maps largely useless in the country until now. This has been a common complaint of travellers to the country. The East Asian nation, which is technically still at war with North Korea, has previously blocked map data from being exported out of the country, citing national security concerns. This meant Koreans were forced to rely on tools from homegrown tech firms like Naver and Kakao, which provide similar functionality.
There are plenty of caveats to the decision, however. According to Reuters, which covered the news, Google must process map data on locally based servers and will only be allowed to export data that has been pre-approved by the government.
The South Korean government will also be able to request revisions to maps, and Google will need to set up a prevention framework to deal with emergency security issues. Satellite and aerial images of military sites will also be blurred on Google Earth and Street View.
Google Vice President Cris Turner said his company was looking “forward to our ongoing collaboration with local officials to bring a fully functioning Google Maps to Korea,” but declined to give a firm date for the rollout.
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The move has attracted some criticism. Choi Jin-mu, a geography professor at Kyung Hee University, told Reuters that he believes if local tech firms like Kakao and Naver are pushed out of the market, Google could raise prices and become “a monopoly,” making local Korean firms and even the military reliant on Google.
Still, if you are heading to some of South Korea’s closest neighbors after your trip, like China—don’t expect Google Maps to be much good. Not only is it blocked in China, but it has less complete data than in the West, even if you access it via VPN. But plenty of local competitors, like Baidu Maps or Gaode, provide similar functionality.
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