[News Today] Google agrees to blur sensitive map data

[LEAD]
The U.S. has continuously raised concerns over South Korea's restrictive high-precision map data.

Google has now agreed to blur sensitive sites, accepting one of the three conditions set by the Korean government.

This is an issue that could surface during the upcoming S. Korea-U.S. summit.

[REPORT]
Public access to Cheong Wa Dae was closed on August 1st.

Afterwards, the domestic map service implemented security measures by deleting the names of nearby areas.

But Google still exposes both the terrain and geographic names.

The Korean government has presented three preconditions for exporting the nation's high-precision map data.

It wants Google to blur the location of security facilities, conceal their coordinates, and have a local server in Korea.

Google has agreed to blur sensitive facilities.

With this, it has accepted one of the preconditions.

It said it is discussing security measures with the Korean government.

So far, the Korean government has insisted on the three preconditions with security as the top priority.

Kim Yun-duk / Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (July 29)
Trade issues can be considered in a proactive way, but our priority is on nat'l defense, the people's right to know and safety.

Although tariff talks have concluded, the matter could be on the agenda of the upcoming Korea-U.S. summit.

The deadline for deciding on the map data export, originally set for August 11th, will likely be pushed back until after the Korea-U.S. summit.

The government will decide whether to extend the deadline at a meeting on Friday.

The discussion of Korea's new law on online platforms, which the U.S. regards as another non-tariff barrier, has also been pushed back until after the summit.

The Fair Trade Commission will reportedly send a written reply to the letter from the U.S. House of Representatives soon.