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Google submits additional documents to Seoul on map data transfer

Published: 06 Feb. 2026, 12:10 Updated: 06 Feb. 2026, 13:01

A senior Google official speaks during the ″Google for Korea″ event in Seoul on July 7, 2025. [NEWS1]

Google has submitted additional documents requested by the Korean government regarding the overseas transfer of Korea's high-precision map data, industry sources and government officials said on Friday.

The U.S. technology giant emailed supplementary materials to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Thursday, the deadline set by the government for revisions to its earlier application for the data transfer.

The additional submission is said to have met most of the conditions sought by the government, such as measures to mask sensitive domestic security facilities and restrict the exposure of precise coordinates, informed sources said.

The documents also reportedly include technical explanations detailing how Google would process and manage the map data going forward. However, they do not contain concrete plans to establish a data center in Korea, according to the sources.

“The government plans to convene an interagency meeting to decide whether to approve the overseas transfer of the high-precision map data after reviewing the newly submitted materials,” an official from the Transport Ministry said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A final decision is expected to take several months.

The Google Startup Campus office in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, is seen on Jan. 24, 2024. [NEWS1]

Google filed its latest request in February 2025, seeking approval for the transfer of 1:5,000-scale high-precision map data to its overseas data centers.

In November of last year, however, a government consultative panel requested that the company submit revised documents by Feb. 5 of this year, suspending the review process until then.

The panel said Google had expressed willingness to comply with Korea's security requirements, including removing coordinate data for the country from its maps, but such measures were not reflected in the documents initially submitted.

Currently, Google provides map services in Korea using publicly available 1:25,000-scale map data combined with aerial and satellite imagery. The United States has previously cited restrictions on high-precision map data as a key nontariff barrier.

Google made similar requests to export high-precision map data in 2007 and 2016, but Korea rejected them, citing national security concerns over the potential exposure of military bases and other sensitive facilities.

Yonhap