Seoul, Aug 3 (IANS) The South Korean government is expected to postpone its decision on whether to allow Google to export the country’s high-precision map data overseas after an outcome of the upcoming summit between South Korea and the United States, according to officials on Sunday.

In February, the U.S. tech giant submitted an application to the state-run National Geographic Information Institute, seeking approval for the transfer of 1:5,000-scale high-precision map data to its data centres abroad, reports Yonhap news agency.

According to relevant regulations, the review panel is required to notify Google of its decision within 60 days of the application date, with the option of a 60-day extension. The South Korean government exercised the extension and was expected to reach a decision by the second deadline of Aug. 11.

“Despite the timeline, there is a high possibility that the decision deadline will be further extended,” an official said. “Reaching a conclusion before the Korea-U.S. summit could influence other agenda items to be discussed at the meeting.”

Consultations are under way between Seoul and Washington to set a date for a summit between President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump, as Trump said last week that Lee will visit the White House in two weeks.

The proposed map transfer has sparked heated debate over national security, digital sovereignty and broader trade concerns, while the U.S. has cited the issue as a key non-tariff barrier. But the matter was excluded from the recent tariff negotiations between the two nations.

“Security-related concerns, including the map issue, would be on the table for the upcoming Korea-U.S. summit,” an official of Seoul’s presidential office said.

The decision on the Google issue will be made by the map data export review panel, which involves officials from major ministries, including the defense, foreign affairs, industry and science ministries, as well as the National Intelligence Service.

Currently, Google provides South Korean maps using publicly available lower-resolution 1:25,000-scale map data combined with aerial and satellite imagery. This results in lower-quality mapping services compared with domestic map service providers.

Google previously made similar requests in 2007 and 2016, but Seoul rejected them due to national security concerns, citing the potential exposure of military bases and other sensitive facilities.

In 2016, the government proposed conditions requiring Google to blur out sensitive sites or host the data on domestic servers, which Google refused.

This time, Google has expressed a willingness to comply with the blurring and has requested the coordinate data for security facilities. The added request for the coordinate data has raised concerns within the government’s security community.

—IANS

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