National Security Dispute: South Korea may restrict the dissemination of Google High-Precision Maps.

South Korean officials said on Sunday that the government will decide by August whether to allow Google to transfer the country's high-precision map data overseas amid heated debates surrounding national security, digital sovereignty, and other trade issues. In February of this year, Apple submitted an application to the National Geographic Information Institute requesting approval to transfer high-precision 1:5000 map data to an overseas data center. Currently, Google uses publicly available low-resolution 1:25000 scale map data, combined with aerial and satellite images, to provide maps of South Korea. This has resulted in lower quality map services compared to domestic map service providers. In 2016, the South Korean government proposed conditions requiring Google to blur sensitive websites or host data on domestic servers, a request that Google declined.