South Korea approves Google high-precision map export

South Korea has granted Google conditional approval to export high-precision map data, a step that would allow full Google Maps features such as walking directions and real-time driving navigation, TechCrunch reports. The decision reverses a policy that since 2011 effectively kept Google Maps and Apple Maps partially functional by preventing detailed geographic data from leaving the country.

The approval comes wrapped in controls that read less like a market opening than a managed interface. South Korea will verify compliance before data is exported; imagery used in Google Maps and Google Earth must follow national-security rules; and historical imagery in Google Earth and Street View must blur sensitive military sites. Google is required to remove or limit coordinate data for South Korean locations, export only what is deemed essential for routing, and rely on servers operated by local partners for processing. The government also wants a local officer stationed in-country for constant communication, and it plans a “red button” mechanism for rapid intervention in a security incident.

The state’s stated rationale is economic: the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said the decision was influenced by a desire to boost tourism, since foreign visitors have long had to rely on Korean navigation apps that may not offer robust English support. It also framed the move as support for domestic “geo AI” and 3D infrastructure development — language that positions the country’s mapping layer as industrial policy rather than a neutral utility.

At the same time, India has moved in the opposite direction on a different part of the digital stack. New Delhi ordered internet providers to block Supabase, a widely used developer database platform, under Section 69A of India’s IT Act, TechCrunch reports. Access has been patchy across networks, and the government has not publicly provided a reason. Supabase told users to try workarounds such as changing DNS settings or using a VPN, but Indian founders and consultants told TechCrunch those fixes are impractical for ordinary users and production systems.

The asymmetry is revealing. South Korea’s restrictions are designed to keep geospatial data — and the ability to redact it — inside a framework the government can supervise, even as it seeks the consumer convenience of a global platform. India’s block targets not a consumer app but a developer tool that sits behind websites and products; the disruption falls first on small teams and startups that cannot easily re-architect their back ends overnight. Similarweb data cited by TechCrunch shows India accounts for about 9% of Supabase’s global traffic, making it one of the service’s key markets.

Both cases point to a common pattern: access is granted when it can be monitored and revoked, and restricted when it creates too many independent points of leverage. In South Korea the state can demand blurring, local intermediaries and emergency controls; in India the order arrives without explanation and is implemented unevenly by providers.

For Korean tourists arriving with a familiar app, and Indian developers waking up to broken infrastructure, the distinction is practical rather than philosophical. One country is exporting map tiles under a kill switch; the other is blocking a database platform and letting users discover it by trial and error.