Overview

• A government inter-agency council deferred its May deadline to Aug. 11 and is now debating another extension to avoid complicating an upcoming Korea–US summit.
• Google has applied to export a 1:5,000 scale digital topographic map that would enable real-time navigation beyond its current 1:25,000 display limit.
• The Korean Association of Spatial Information, Surveying and Mapping reports 90% of surveyed members oppose the export, citing fears of U.S. tech dominance.
• Officials are reviewing security conditions—including blurring sensitive sites, stripping coordinate metadata and requiring local data hosting—to address national defense and sovereignty concerns.
• Tourism data show a 71% rise in complaints last year with Google Maps accounting for 30% due to non-functioning directions, strengthening calls for full navigation services.