Twenty years of negotiations finally reached a "technical compromise": South Korea approves the export of map data from Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOGL.US).

On Friday, South Korea approved Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOGL.US)s request to export the country's high-precision map data to overseas servers, marking a significant shift after 20 years of rejection, clearing the way for the U.S. tech giant to enter the market dominated by local applications. The South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport stated in a statement that the approval was made "subject to strict security requirements." The statement mentioned that the conditions include blurring military facilities and other sensitive security-related facilities, as well as restricting the display of latitude and longitude coordinate information of South Korean territory on products such as Alphabet Inc. Class C maps and Alphabet Inc. Class C Earth. Additionally, Alphabet Inc. Class C is required to process map data on local servers and is only allowed to export data related to navigation and direction services that have been pre-approved by the government. The ministry also added that the South Korean government reserves the right to request Alphabet Inc. Class C to revise maps, and Alphabet Inc. Class C must establish a security incident prevention framework to address any potential emergency issues. Looking back at this lengthy process of negotiation, the "tug-of-war" between Alphabet Inc. Class C and the South Korean government can be traced back to 2007. It is understood that South Korea was one of the few countries where Alphabet Inc. Class C maps could not operate properly, allowing local companies like Naver and Kakao to dominate digital map services. For a long time, the South Korean authorities have always refused to store high-precision geographic data on overseas servers citing the Survey Act and national security reasons, fearing that such detailed information could jeopardize defense deployments against North Korea and military secrets if exploited. Despite Alphabet Inc. Class C launching a large-scale public relations campaign in 2016 and re-submitting a formal application, it was still strongly rejected by the South Korean government for refusing to establish a data center in South Korea and refusing to conceal sensitive facilities in satellite maps. However, after 2026, the two sides reached a crucial technological compromise through multiple closed-door negotiations. It is widely believed that besides the concessions at the technical level, this policy shift was also driven by increasing trade and diplomatic pressures. It is worth mentioning that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative had publicly criticized South Korea's map data restriction policy multiple times, stating that it constituted a disguised non-tariff trade barrier.