Why Google can’t give you driving directions in South Korea

Google is pressuring South Korea to ease up on regulations that make it impossible for the company to offer driving directions through Google Maps, the New York Times reports. While South Koreans are known as tech-savvy early adopters, old laws restricting the use of mapping data have prevented Google from offering services that most of the world takes for granted. The government permits only the use of low-resolution maps, and all data must be processed on servers inside the country’s borders, the Times reports. Last month, the government of President Park Geun-hye moved to begin relaxing some of those rules, providing English-language map data that would allow Google to begin offering driving directions. But the company says the maps do not have a high enough resolution to be able to provide the full Google Maps service, and has asked to be able to process the map data on its own servers.