Google, a U.S. company, has made repeated requests for the cross-border transfer of the Korean map. The requests have been rejected by the South Korean government, citing security concerns for satellite imagery. This article examined the legality of this rejection based on the Security Regulations on National Spatial Information of South Korea. The legal evaluation showed that the Korean government does not have the legal authority to regulate the online provision of satellite imageries by U.S. companies. Strict regulations of satellite imagery services, which are not specified in the current domestic law, create uncertainties for domestic and foreign companies providing online mapping services. This article offered legal insights on how to fundamentally address the deep-rooted stumbling block raised in the 2020 U.S. Trade Barrier Report concerning the cross-border transfer of the Korean map.

美国公司Google曾多次要求对韩国地图进行跨境转让。韩国政府以卫星图像的安全问题为由，拒绝了这些要求。本文根据《韩国国家空间信息安全条例》审查了拒绝的合法性。法律评估表明，韩国政府没有法律权限来规范美国公司在网上提供的卫星图像。当前国内法律中未对卫星图像服务的严格规定做出规定，这给提供在线地图服务的国内外公司带来了不确定性。本文就如何从根本上解决2020年美国提出的根深蒂固的绊脚石提供了法律见解