Will Pokemon Go help fulfill Google's long-cherished wish?

By Choi Sung-jin

The popularity of “Pokemon Go” mobile game is soaring even before its formal launch here, as downloading by more than 1 million Koreans shows. The question: should it make Seoul allow Google to use the Korean map without the company blurring out sensitive military locations on its mapping service?

According to WiseApp, an app analytics company, Monday, 1.03 million people are estimated to have downloaded the popular augmented reality game not yet available in the country from July 8-15.

Some of them are calling for the government to give Google a license to use the nation’s map, claiming they need detailed maps to enjoy the game properly and even staging a signature-collecting campaign in a few portal sites. The Nintendo mobile game is being operated on the basis of Google maps and the GPS system.

The U.S. company formally asked the Korean government to allow its takeout of Korean maps abroad, on June2.

But government officials have drawn a clear line, maintaining that Pokemon Go and Google’s use of the Korean map are separate matters. “Pokemon Go is a game using just the GPS function and does not require detailed map data,” said a Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport official.

A National Geographic Information Institute (NGII) official agreed, saying, “Even if Pokemon Go is launched here, players can fully enjoy it with just Google’s current map data.” Actually, “Ingress,” another GPS-based game released by Niantic, the U.S. game studio that also developed Pokemon Go, is using the same map data as the latter’s in Korea.

The government is to decide on Google’s request by Aug. 25.

“It is not desirable if the popularity of the new mobile game will exert influence on the government’s decision,” the NGII official said. “We will make a conclusion by taking into account various factors, such as national security, equity between domestic and foreign businesses and the tax avoidance issue.”

Google’s Korean competitors are strongly opposed to Google bringing out the nation’s map overseas.

“Any decent business corporations should pay proper taxes for the income they produce in foreign countries,” said Lee Hae-jin, chairman of Naver, the largest portal site in Korea, at a news conference last Friday. “All Google has to do is set up a server here, which will be nothing given its technological power. It makes no sense if a foreign company demands its host government to change its laws while failing to fulfill its rightful duty.”

Other experts also expressed displeasure about Google’s pressure tactics.

“According to World Trade Organization rules, the Korean government has every right to demand Google to follow the rules it has imposed,” said Professor Lee Hae-young of Hanshin University. "The U.S. company might try to bring the case to WTO’s investor-state dispute settlement court, but national security is generally regarded as the exception of trade accords."