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Simona Botviciute

Editor (Asia:Far East) 

 

SEOUL — Google is trying to convince South Korea to ease up on the internet regulations that prevents the company from offering driving directions via Google Maps. Services that most of the world takes for granted cannot be used due to the laws restricting the use of mapping data, allowing the use of low-resolution maps only. South Korean government permits the data to be proceeded on servers inside the country’s borders making it extremely difficult for any internet company to provide certain services.

South Korea is known for its incredibly advanced broadband infrastructure and one of the most quirky internet in the world. However, regulatory issues limit the use of specific services. For instance, the government restricts children from playing online games during the night. Meanwhile, adults wanting to do so must provide their resident registration numbers to prove that they are of age. This curfew was put in place in order to battle the teenage gaming addiction.

Travellers and residents cannot rely on Google Maps for directions because it can provide directions only for public transport. South Korean security restrictions have barely changed since the Korean War, meaning that the export of map data is banned. Therefore, the growing domestic criticism for such an approach seems to be reaching the government as President Park Geun-Hye made a move to ease some of the rules by allowing to provide map data in the English language. However, the dramatic change is most likely not coming soon for Google, who will be battling the South Korean government to allow the processing of map data on its own servers.

Image Courtesy: By Google (https://www.google.de/images/srpr/logo6w.png) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

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Simona Botviciute

Simona Botviciute

Simona is the Editor of Asia – Far East section of The Global Panorama. She is continuously studying in School of Journalism, Media & Cultural Studies at Cardiff University. She enjoys both news writing and editorial type of work regarding any cultural or political aspect of Asian countries. Being a passionate music lover she is also a contributor to the Music section of the website.