Getting AroundUpdated 2026-09-09· 7m

Google Maps Still Cannot Navigate Korea — What Changed in 2026, and What to Install

Korea approved Google's map export in February 2026, ending a 19-year dispute. Turn-by-turn navigation still is not live. Here is what works today and the two apps that do.

Reality check

Cost: Both recommended apps are free

You will land at Incheon, open Google Maps, ask it how to get to your hotel, and get either nothing or something wrong. This is not a bug and it is not your data connection. It is a law.

What the law actually says

Korea's Act on the Establishment and Management of Spatial Data restricts sending digital maps more detailed than 1:25,000 scale out of the country without government approval. The stated reason is national security, in a country still technically at war with the North. Google processes map data on servers outside Korea, so for nineteen years it simply never had the detail needed to route you down a street.

This is why the same phone that navigates flawlessly in Tokyo gives up in Seoul. It is not that Google has not bothered with Korea. It is that the data was not allowed to leave.

What changed in February 2026

After a third request and repeated deferrals, a review body including the ministries of National Defense, Foreign Affairs, Science and Trade, along with the National Intelligence Service, approved the export with five conditions attached. Raw data must be processed on domestic servers run by a local partner. Only base maps and transport networks are cleared. Government review comes before any transfer. Coordinates are stripped, and military and sensitive sites must be blurred in Street View and Earth.

Approved is not the same as working

The decision cleared the way; it did not flip a switch. Full turn-by-turn navigation had not shipped as of this writing, and the conditions take time to implement. Check on the day rather than planning your arrival around it.

What each app actually does today

What you need	Google Maps	Naver Map	Kakao Map
Subway routing	Usable in Seoul	Exit numbers, transfer times	Similar to Naver
Bus	Incomplete, stale in places	Real-time arrivals	Real-time arrivals
Walking	Basic	Detailed	Detailed
Driving	Unreliable routing	Good	Best, live traffic
Taxi	No booking	No booking	Books through Kakao T
English interface	Yes	Yes	Partial

Both Korean apps are free and neither requires a Korean phone number to use the map itself.

Install Naver Map. Add Kakao Map if you will take taxis.

Naver Map is the one that matters. It gives subway exit numbers, which is the single piece of information that decides whether you walk two minutes or fifteen. Kakao Map is worth adding only if you plan to take taxis, because it books through Kakao T without a phone call.

Search in Korean even if you cannot read it

Copy the Korean name and paste it into the search box. English names often return nothing or the wrong branch of a chain. Every place on this site shows its Korean name for exactly this reason.

Why this site links to Naver on Korean pages

Our Korean pages hand you a Naver Map link; the English, Japanese and Chinese pages embed Google. That is not inconsistency. Google embeds work without an API key and are readable to visitors from abroad, while Naver gives Korean readers the app they already have open. On every course we also print the station, the line and the exit number as text, so the information survives whichever map you end up using.

+Can I get by with only Google Maps?

For subways in Seoul, mostly. For buses, no. For driving, no. If your trip is subway and walking inside Seoul you will survive; step outside that and you will want Naver.

+Do I need a Korean phone number to use Naver Map?

Not for the map, routing or search. A number is only needed for services layered on top, such as booking.

+Is Naver Map in English?

Yes, there is an English interface. Place names are sometimes transliterated rather than translated, which is why pasting the Korean text still gives better results.