Tag: Google

If you wondering why Google doesn’t have a robust Google Maps service in Korea, according to this article it has more to do about taxes than national security:

Yoo Ki-yoon, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Seoul National University and former director of Korea’s National Geographic Information Institute, poses at the university’s department library. (Courtesy of Yoo Ki-yoon)

For 19 years, Google has been asking South Korea for permission to take the country’s detailed 1:5000 map data overseas. For 19 years, Seoul has said no. The conventional explanation is national security: Korea is technically still at war, and precise maps in foreign hands pose a risk.

But last week, Google submitted a revised proposal that effectively undermined that narrative. It now meets virtually every security condition the government had set.

The one thing it refused to include was a plan to build a data center in Korea.

For Yoo Ki-yoon, former director of the National Geographic Information Institute, the government agency that produces Korea’s base maps, framing this as a regulatory or server location dispute misses the point.

“If the economics justify it, Google will come in, pay taxes and compete. That’s what happened in Japan recently,” Yoo, a professor of geospatial engineering at Seoul National University, said in an interview with The Korea Herald. “The reason Google hasn’t done so in Korea is not that it’s being blocked. It’s simply that the company has decided the returns don’t yet justify the cost.”

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Google Maps may work in the future in Korea:

Google has reaffirmed its willingness to comply with South Korea’s stringent national security protocols as it seeks government approval to export high-precision map data — a highly sensitive issue that has sparked public and political debate in recent months.

At a rare press conference held in Seoul on Tuesday, Cris Turner, vice president of government affairs and public policy at Google, underscored the company’s readiness to accommodate the Korean government’s requirements, including the removal of sensitive geospatial details.

“We’ve been in close communication with the Korean government to understand and address their concerns,” Turner said. “(As part of our commitment,) We will remove latitude and longitude coordinates for places in Korea.”

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

I guess we will soon see if Naver and Kakao will have any competition in South Korea for mapping services:

The debate over the overseas transfer of South Korea’s high-precision map data, a sensitive issue that had been largely dormant since the launch of President Lee Jae Myung’s administration, has reignited. The government is moving to develop countermeasures as global tech giants intensify their efforts to gain access to the data.

Apple recently sought legal advice from a Korean law firm regarding its application to export 1:5,000 scale map data. The move follows the company’s earlier attempt in 2023, which was aimed at enhancing services, such as its Find My device tracking feature, Apple Pay’s local operations and the in-car navigation system integrated into Apple CarPlay, according to industry sources on Thursday.

Apple’s previous request was rejected by the Korean government due to national security concerns. Industry watchers believe the US tech giant will quickly reapply should the government approve Google’s pending application to export similar map data.

The review of Google’s request is ongoing. The government, which deferred its decision last month, must deliver a verdict by Aug. 11. As the Lee administration seeks to ease trade tensions with Washington, attention is focused on how it will respond to Google’s bid.

Maps at a scale of 1:25,000, used for navigation and route guidance, are already provided to foreign companies for their map services. However, both Google and Apple are seeking to secure high-precision maps as a necessity for expanding their mobility, AI and autonomous driving industries.

According to regulations, high-precision maps can only be used if the company has a data center located within Korea. As a result, only Naver and Kakao, which operate domestic data centers, are currently able to use high-precision map data free of charge.

Korea Herald

You can red more at the link.

If you have kids you probably know what Roblox is and apparently many Korean investors know as well:

Tesla and Apple have long been the most popular foreign stocks for Korean investors — but not anymore.    
   
Between July 1 and July 23, Korean investors purchased a net $86.54 million worth of shares of Alphabet, which owns Google, making it the most popular foreign stock, according to data from the Korea Securities Depository.   
   
The second most popular was Roblox, a California-based online game developer, of which Koreans purchased a net $75.95 million.  
   
The rise of the metaverse drove its popularity. Roblox allows users to develop their own mini-games, share them with others and change the in-game currency, Robux, into real money. The allowing of users to build their own worlds and make real money has made it a hot metaverse platform.  

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Could you imagine the precedent this would set for the tech companies if they have to pay taxes to every country where citizens use its services?  Users are already paying a fee to the Internet provider in the country that is being taxed:

South Korea is considering launching probes into global tech companies that have come under suspicion for not paying their dues, the government here said Wednesday.

The move comes amid growing criticism that global tech giants, including Google Inc. and Facebook Inc., have not properly paid their taxes to local authorities while generating profits every year.

“The government is aware that it is a problem that needs to be more actively addressed,” ICT Minister Yoo Young-min said during an annual audit with lawmakers. “The ministry is mulling over the launch of a joint investigation with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Financial Services Commission and the Fair Trade Commission.”

The lawmakers at the gathering argued that the government should come up with countermeasures to properly deal with alleged wrongdoings by the multinationals if they do not follow local regulations.

“It is vital that an organization should be set up to come up with joint countermeasures against global companies that may not be paying their taxes here,” said Rep. Kim Kyung-jin, adding that it’s important to find out how much foreign companies make.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but I think Dr. Tara O may be on to why the ROK government is looking at going after the tech companies:

Park Kwang-on, Deoburreo Minju Party, “asked” Google to remove 104 YouTube cases. When Google didn’t, he called Google Korea head for questioning re alleged tax evasion& alleged fake YouTube. High pressure tactics to suppress voices for freedom, rule of law, pro-ROK-US alliance https://t.co/QKZcsRkRaY

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) November 6, 2018

You can read more about the Moon administrations’ attempt to suppress conservative critics in South Korea at the below link.

https://www.rokdrop.net/2018/10/gordon-change-gives-address-to-the-national-press-club-on-south-korean-governments-attacks-on-freedom-of-speech/

It is amazing to me that something so insecure was used to communicate with spies in Iran and China.  The US military gets non-stop information security training about using commercial websites and social media and here is American intelligence agencies operating an entire spy network on one:

Dozens of American spies were killed in Iran and China after a flawed communications service that allowed foreign foes to see what the agents were up to using Google, official sources have claimed.

Between 2009 and 2013 the US Central Intelligence Agency suffered a “catastrophic” secret communications failure in a website used by officers and their field agents around the world to speak to each other, according to a report in Yahoo News, which heard from 11 former intelligence and government officials about the previously unreported disaster.

“We’re still dealing with the fallout,” said one former national security official. “Dozens of people around the world were killed because of this.”

The internet-based communications platform was first used in the Middle East to communicate with soldiers in war zones and had not been intended for widespread use but due to its ease of use and efficacy, it was adopted by agents despite its lack of sophistication, the sources claimed.

Cracks only began to show when Iran, angered that the government under Barack Obama had discovered a secret Iranian nuclear weapon factory, went out with a fine tooth comb to find moles.

It discovered the existence of one of the websites used by US agents using Google. US officials believe that Iranian spies were able to use Google as a search tool to find secret CIA websites, unbeknown to those using them.

By 2011, Iran had infiltrated the CIA spy network and in May it announced that they had broken up a 30-strong ring of American spies.

Some informants were executed and others imprisoned as a result, the sources claimed.

This was corroborated by a report on ABC news at the time, which referred to a compromised communications system after a tip off from the CIA.

It's been well known that #Naver is corrupt. Search rankings go to the highest bidder, unlike other reputable search engines, like Google and Bing. https://t.co/Uve0hxyTaV

— KingSejong (@KingSejong) November 11, 2017

This issue between the ROK government and Google continues:

South Korea will not give Google a license to use South Korean maps unless the company blurs out sensitive military installations on its mapping service, Defense Minister Han Min-koo said Wednesday.

Earlier this month, the United States search engine provider requested permission from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to access South Korea-supplied maps as part of efforts to upgrade its Google Maps service on South Korea.

It was Google’s second attempt to gain access to South Korean maps following its first unsuccessful trial in 2010.

“Because of (security) concerns, security-related ministries are insisting that (a license) would be possible only after proper measures are taken,” Han told the parliamentary committee on defense affairs, indicating key military facilities should be blurred out first before Google is allowed to use South Korean maps.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

I have for many years advocated for fighting an information war within North Korea since the early days of financing defector radio stations to broadcast into North Korea.  Challenging the Kim regime’s domestic propaganda should be a primary part of any strategy to counter North Korea.  Challenging the propaganda directly challenges the Kim regime’s legitimacy.  That is why the Kim regime has been so violently outspoken against the activities of defector groups that have launched balloons into North Korea to include even trying to assassinate the group’s primary leader, Park Sang-hak.  Recently when I read about Facebook’s new effort to use drones to give Internet access to remote areas of the world the first thing I thought of was North Korea:

Facebook started teasing its internet-beaming planes last year, but now we’re seeing one that it actually built. Pictured above is Aquila, a solar-powered, 140-foot unmanned plane that’s designed to deliver internet connectivity from altitudes of 60,000 to 90,000 feet. The UAV, which has the wingspan of a Boeing 737 and weighs roughly 880 pounds, will be able to circle a specific area for up to 90 days when deployed — a feat possible thanks to its dependence on nothing but solar energy.

The Kim regime has been very active in doing everything possible to stem the tide of outside information entering North Korea.  Excluding the border areas where most of the defectors come from, the Kim regime has been very effective with controlling information entering North Korea while expanding access to technology.  The Kim regime has expanded computer and smartphone use while simultaneously creating an its own cell phone network and Intranet to control the flow of information.  The fact that border areas can use cell phone towers in China contributes to the fact more defectors come from these areas.

Imagine if everyone in North Korea was able to access an outside information network like the border areas can do using Chinese cell phone towers?  That is what Facebook’s drones may be able to do. Facebook is not the only ones pursuing this technology; Google has their own program to provide Internet to remote areas using balloons. The drones and balloons fly at altitudes greater than any aircraft North Korea has can intercept, however right now it is unclear whether they can fly at a standoff distance greater than North Korea’s anti-aircraft missiles can target the drone or balloon with.  If the technology advances to where a drone or balloon could hover over the center of the Sea of Japan and beam Internet access into North Korea, the Kim regime would not be able to target it.  What effect over the long term would that have in North Korea if citizens could secretly access the Internet without the Kim regime knowing?