For millions of travelers like Eric Weng and Vivian Chen, a trip to South Korea means juggling not one, not two, but three different map applications just to get around. Why? Because Google Maps, the go-to navigation tool for much of the world, simply doesn’t work the way visitors expect once they touch down in Seoul or Busan. Instead, tourists must rely on local alternatives like Kakao Map and Naver Map, which—while popular with residents—often leave international visitors scratching their heads over clunky translations and missing features.
It’s a surprising shortcoming in a country renowned for its technological prowess. South Korea, after all, boasts some of the fastest internet speeds on the planet and is home to tech giants like Samsung and LG. Yet, as of September 2025, Google Maps still can’t provide detailed walking or driving instructions in South Korea. The reason? A decades-long standoff between U.S. tech titans and the South Korean government over access to high-precision digital map data.
At the heart of the dispute lies a set of government-owned maps. Google and Apple both want access to South Korea’s 1:5,000 scale digital maps—detailed enough to power modern navigation and augmented reality. But the South Korean government has refused to let this data leave the country, citing national security concerns and, some argue, a desire to protect local tech firms. According to CNN, Google has been requesting this data for nearly 20 years, but authorities have repeatedly said no.
The saga began back in 2008, when Google Maps sparked outrage by labeling certain Korean locations with their Japanese names—a particularly sensitive issue given Korea’s history of Japanese colonization. This early misstep set the tone for a rocky relationship. Soyun Ahn, a Boston College professor who studies global platform governance, told CNN, “The two entities have been in a power struggle for two decades. They’ve had a rocky relationship from the very beginning.”
Currently, Google Maps relies on a less detailed 1:25,000 scale map, which is freely available online. This allows the app to show basic geography—city names, roads, and even train lines—but not to offer the turn-by-turn navigation users expect. Try to plot a route, and Google Maps will simply shrug: “Can’t seem to find a way there.”
Google claims it needs the more detailed 1:5,000 map, released in 2016, to enable modern navigation features. But South Korean law prohibits exporting such data to overseas servers without explicit government approval. After heated hearings and closed-door debates, authorities have refused every request so far. In a recent blog post, Google promised to “take additional security measures, including blurring sensitive facilities on Google Maps and Google Earth” if granted access, but the government remains unconvinced.
National security is the official sticking point. Lawmakers fear that exporting high-resolution map data could expose military bases and critical infrastructure. Yet, some experts say these concerns may be exaggerated. Scott McQuire, a media professor at the University of Melbourne, argued to CNN that “the national security concern is probably overstated, because the maps are available widely.” Google, for its part, points out that the 1:5,000 map “has already undergone a rigorous government security review, with sensitive information removed.” Domestic apps like Kakao and Naver already use this data, but they keep it on local servers, under stricter control.
Economic interests are also at play. South Korea’s digital landscape is dominated by homegrown giants, and there’s little appetite to see a foreign behemoth like Google seize a bigger share of the market. According to a survey cited by CNN, 90% of 239 South Korean spatial information companies opposed exporting the map data to Google, fearing it would hurt sales and cost jobs. Naver and Kakao have publicly protested the idea, arguing it’s unfair to local firms that pay Korean taxes and comply with domestic regulations.
Apple, meanwhile, is facing similar hurdles. On September 5, 2025, the National Geographic Information Institute (NGII), part of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, announced a 60-day extension to review Apple’s request to export the same high-precision map data. Apple’s previous attempt, filed in February 2023, was rejected for national security reasons. This time, Apple is touting its use of domestic servers in Korea, which, according to The Korea Herald, would allow “quicker corrective actions in the event of sensitive information exposure.” Google, by contrast, lacks local server infrastructure, stoking further security concerns.
“The ministry has concluded that, similar to the case of Google, Apple’s request warrants further comprehensive review, especially in light of potential impacts on national security and the domestic geospatial information industry,” an NGII official told The Korea Herald. The new deadline for a decision on Apple’s request is December 8, 2025. Google’s application, initially filed earlier this year, is also still under review, having received multiple 60-day extensions as authorities weigh the risks.
For tourists, the stakes are more practical than political. Vivian Chen, who visits South Korea several times a year, finds the English interfaces on local apps “clunky and hard to use.” She misses the live navigation features of Google Maps and finds it tough to locate smaller stores or attractions, especially when translations falter. “It’s very hard to find the English names for smaller stores,” she told CNN, adding that the lack of user-friendly navigation makes her hesitant to explore beyond major tourist sites.
The decision now rests with an inter-governmental council representing ministries of trade, foreign affairs, national defense, intelligence, and security. According to Ahn, unless Google or Apple make major concessions, “it’s very likely they will reject the request again.” However, there’s speculation that South Korea could use the issue as a bargaining chip in ongoing trade negotiations with the United States, especially after a recent deal involving 15% tariffs on Korean goods.
Meanwhile, the global context for these decisions is shifting. Google is facing major antitrust investigations in the U.S., including one specifically targeting Google Maps. As Scott McQuire put it to CNN, “For a long time, people thought about Google as a public service—it’s all free, we don’t pay, it’s ‘do no evil.’ Well, the attitude’s changing now, and people can see Google more clearly for what it is—which is a very, very large enterprise, which produces some really clever products, but is enormously intrusive in its data gathering capacities.”
So, as the world waits for South Korea’s final word, the impasse continues. For now, tourists will keep hopping between apps, local companies will defend their turf, and the debate over digital sovereignty and global tech dominance will rage on—one map at a time.
