Google assembles team to expand Maps in South Korea
Google is looking for a Strategic Partnerships Development Manager in Seoul to expand Google Maps capabilities in South Korea, Korea Herald reports. The company said it plans to launch full-featured service capabilities in the country, including turn-by-turn navigation.
Working with local partners
The new Strategic Partnerships Development Manager will join the Google Global Product Partnerships team. The employee will work with private companies, government agencies and technology partners.
The job description states that Google is building a team around what the company calls an important historic moment for Korea. The manager's tasks will include concluding new partnership agreements, identifying product go-to-market opportunities, building connections with Korean organizations and relaying information about the local market to the Google Geo team.
Service capabilities
Google Maps currently offers a large list of places, reviews and public transport routes in South Korea. However, the service does not provide turn-by-turn navigation for driving or walking routes. Walking segments in public transport routes are marked with dotted lines without navigation instructions.
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Google did not announce a launch date for the expanded service and did not specify the full list of features that will be available to users.
Conditional permission to export data
The employee search began after South Korea conditionally approved Google's export of high-precision base map data at a 1:5000 scale on February 27. The decision changed the authorities' previous position, which had rejected such requests in 2007 and 2016 over national security concerns.
Choi Bo-kyung, founder of the geospatial company A Piece of Map, said Google would need higher-quality base maps, as well as data on addresses, points of interest, traffic, parking and public transport, for the service to operate fully. According to her, the company will also need to reach agreements with several local data providers and ensure that their data are updated in accordance with Korean legislation.
