On April 28, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Dukgeun commented on restrictions regarding the export of high-precision map data to Google, stating, "The industry wants our system to be established in a way that allows for more autonomy, especially concerning location-based services."
Minister Ahn made these remarks while attending a plenary session of the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts at the National Assembly, in response to a question from Jang Kyungtae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, who asked whether high-precision data should be provided to foreign companies.
Minister Ahn conveyed the industry's position, saying, "If there are security concerns, we need to resolve the technical issues that can address those concerns. After that, I hope that our country can also be included in Google Maps, which is available in 80 languages worldwide." He added, "The performance of autonomous vehicles in our country also needs to improve, and there are many demands from the industry."
While the government has not approved the overseas export of high-precision maps due to security concerns such as the potential disclosure of military facility locations, Google recently renewed its request to the Korean government for the export of high-precision map data for the first time in nine years. In this context, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) under the Trump administration has identified this as a trade barrier, leading to speculation that export approval could become possible in future tariff negotiations with the United States.
Yoo Sangim, Minister of Science and ICT, was asked about the government's position and stated, "Previously, the National Security Council (NSC) has been responding to this issue across multiple ministries," but also said that the government's position "remains reserved."
Park Sangwoo, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, also received a related question from Seo Beomsoo, a member of the People Power Party, and said, "Our ministry is the lead agency in managing maps," but added, "The government has not been able to establish an official position." Minister Park further stated, "There are various cases of countries with vulnerable security situations like ours, so we need to verify the facts more precisely," and added, "There are also technical matters that Google needs to address for us."
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