Google Maps oddity for South Korea

Right clicking on google maps and selecting the lat long to put is something I do many times when investigating a sighting however I was looking into geolocating a sighting in South Korea when i went to grab lat and long it didn't work.

It seems there is a polygon drawn over South Korea that disables it, as it also doesn't work for the regions of North Korea that are south of South Korea most northern point, but does work for Japanese islands that are north of South Koreas southern points.

It seems this is a security measure


Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/14zb9ks/eli5_why_cant_google_maps_generate_its_own/


South Korea



China


Japan

I can't personally profess to the utility or accuracy of either tool for your purposes, but I am given to understand from monolingual Anglophone relatives and colleagues visiting ROK that locally-based Naver and KakaoMap provide accurate navigation for tourists and locals alike.

Wiki summary:

South Korean geographic data and information is subject to several regulations which severely restrict its reuse. The South Korean government defends the restrictions on the grounds of national security. A number of international critics argue that it constitutes a form of protectionism and a trade barrier.

South Korea remains one of very few countries in the world where international services like Google Maps face service problems.[1]​

However, as the South Korean government conditionally approved the export of high-precision maps at a scale of 1:5000 on 27 February 2026, Google Maps service is expected to be available in South Korea normally within the next six months.[​

Click to expand...

That six months has passed. A resident of ROK could attest to whether the web-based/browser version of Google Maps or the app is available, accurate, and fully functional. I don't believe there is a plan, much less a timeline, for Google Maps, Apple, etc, to collaborate with the state to expand this kind of granular access to users of international tools operating outside of ROK.

Google Earth (app) and openstreetmap.org both show coordinates.

I set my VPN to South Korea and went to Google maps, it placed me automatically in Seoul indicating Google Maps assumed I was browsing from South Korea, however the option to see and copy lat and long is still not available.

It's a requirement of the Korean Government. Probably not a particularly effective one, as it's trivially easy to find the coordinates.

https://www.korea.kr/news/policyNewsView.do?newsId=148960107

External Quote:

(좌표표시 제한) 구글 맵스, 구글 어스의 글로벌 서비스에서 대한민국 영토에 대한 좌표 표시 제거 및 노출 제한


(Coordinate Display Restriction) Removal of coordinate displays for South Korean territory and restriction of exposure in the global services of Google Maps and Google Earth