You come up out of a subway exit in Seoul, open Google Maps, tap the café you saved back home and ask for walking directions. Nothing. At best you get a transit route, with the walking parts drawn as a dotted line and no voice telling you where to turn.
Your phone isn't broken. In Korea the apps that actually walk you from the exit to the door are Naver Map and KakaoMap, and the reason Google lags behind is map data and law, not who builds the better app. On my own trips abroad, the local apps and little how-tos were always the slowest thing to pick up, so here's the Naver Map vs Kakao Map rundown I'd want in your shoes: what each one is good at, why Google Maps still falls short in Korea, and how to search when English doesn't find the place.
| Naver Map | KakaoMap | Google Maps | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Menus | Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese | Korean, English | Your usual language |
| Walking and driving | Turn-by-turn | Turn-by-turn | Not in Korea yet |
| Transit | Routes and live arrivals | Routes, live arrivals, buses and trains moving on the map | Routes only |
| Best use | Your main app | Second app for live tracking and ferries | Saved lists and browsing |
Why Google Maps falls short in Korea
The short version: Google doesn't have the detailed map it needs, and it isn't allowed to just take it. Under Korea's spatial information law, a map more detailed than 1:25,000 needs the land minister's approval to leave the country, and Google processes its maps on servers abroad. In February 2025 Google asked to export the government's 1:5,000 base map, where 1 cm on paper is 50 m on the ground. Its own Korean blog puts it plainly: Google Maps directions are unavailable only in Korea, and a 1:25,000 map, where 1 cm covers 250 m, is too coarse to guide anyone through a city.
On February 27, 2026, a government council (several ministries, the intelligence service and civilian members) said yes, with a long list of strings attached (government press release). Google has to remove coordinate display for Korean territory from Google Maps and Google Earth. Military and security sites get masked, even in old Google Earth imagery and in Street View. The raw data is processed on servers a Korean partner company runs inside Korea, and only the basic base map and the road network may leave; contour lines stay home. Google also has to keep a "Local Responsible Officer" in the country.
Then comes the slow part. The data only leaves after the government confirms every condition is met. At the National Assembly audit on October 23, 2026, the land minister said the ministry would "verify and confirm" first and export after that, and that the permit can be suspended or revoked. A Bizwatch report around the same time said Google hadn't formally submitted its compliance results yet, telling officials the change touches its global service and takes real development time. Google then submitted its final report on November 4, and on November 13 the government said it had met every condition (see the update above). Some Korean outlets mention a first-quarter 2027 target for directions, but that's press reporting, not an official date. So if you're visiting this winter, still plan on Google Maps without walking or driving directions.
Keep it on your phone anyway. Your saved lists come with you, English place info is quick to skim, and transit routes do work. Just switch to a Korean app for the last few hundred meters.
Naver Map: the one most Koreans open
Monthly active users of map apps in Korea, September 2026. Source: Mobile Index (IGAWorks), as reported by Yonhap (checked Nov 12, 2026). Chart: A Korean's Take (CC BY 4.0)
Start with the numbers. In September 2026, Naver Map had 30.54 million monthly users in Korea, about double TMAP (15.20 million, mainly a car navigation app) and well ahead of KakaoMap (13.40 million). Google Maps crossed 10 million for the first time in July 2026 and grew fastest of the four, up 15.1 percent on a year earlier. The data firm doesn't split users by nationality, so nobody can tell you how much of that growth is visitors.
For you, though, the point is language. Naver has offered its map in English, Japanese and Chinese since 2018, and you switch it under Settings in the app. Once it's in English, the menus, the transit directions and the live bus and subway arrival times follow. Korean reviews get machine-translated by Naver's Papago, which helps more than you'd think, because the best reviews of small places are almost always in Korean.
Two newer features don't get mentioned much. Since December 2025, Naver Map has been marking shops that use Naver Pay's "Npay Connect" terminal, so you can check before you walk over whether Apple Pay or a contactless card will work there (Naver Pay announcement). And with the app set to a foreign language, a seasonal tab called BE LOCAL shows up with picks for visitors. In Korean mode you never see it. Naver says the number of users with a non-Korean language setting rose 16.4 percent in April 2026 compared with the previous September, a record.
Booking a table or ordering through Naver is its own story, including the passport verification added in 2026. I covered that in the restaurant reservations post linked at the end, so I won't repeat it here.
KakaoMap: watch your bus come to you
KakaoMap is the plainer one for visitors. Its app store listing gives English and Korean as its languages, and its reviews are mostly in Korean. Where it really earns a spot on your phone is live tracking. Kakao calls the feature "chojeongmil" (초정밀), roughly "ultra-precise": the vehicles themselves move across the map.
It started with buses in Jeju in September 2019 and covered buses in about 20 regions by mid-2025. Since June 9, 2025, it also shows subway trains moving on 23 lines, including Seoul's Lines 1 to 9 (a few sections excepted), AREX to the airport, the Shinbundang Line, GTX-A and Busan's Lines 1 to 4. Arrival times already count down in seconds, and a September 2026 update lets you tap the arrival box to see where your bus or train is right now. That sounds like a gimmick until you're standing at a stop in January deciding whether there's time to grab a hot drink. Kakao notes the live positions depend on data from local governments, so where it isn't available you just get the regular arrival times.
Heading to an island? Since September 15, 2026, KakaoMap also tracks coastal passenger ferries on 99 routes from 306 terminals, built with the Korea Maritime Transportation Safety Authority. Tap a ship and you get its speed and the time left to arrival, and Kakao has been adding timetables and booking links to terminal pages since. Ferries are the first thing the weather cancels, though, so treat the dot on the map as a guide and still check the operator's notice.
Taxis live in a different app, Kakao T. My Seoul taxi guide covers how that works.
How to search when English doesn't find it
English search does fine with the big names: palaces, stations, airports, chain hotels. Small restaurants and cafés are a different story, because many are listed only under their Korean names. The fix is boring but it works. Copy the Korean name from wherever you found the place (a Korean blog, an Instagram post, the Google Maps listing) and paste it in. Or paste the address.
Korea has used road-name addresses in full since January 1, 2014 (official guide), and they're the most reliable thing to paste. The road type is in the name. A daero (대로) has eight or more lanes, a ro (로) has two to seven, and a gil (길) is anything narrower, often a side street branching off a ro. Building numbers run from the start of the road, about every 20 m, odd numbers on the left and even on the right.
The trail map at Buramsan Healing Town in Nowon, northern Seoul: Korean names in big type, English in small print, and the red 현위치 marker for "you are here." Photo: A Korean's Take
A few Korean words go a long way on map boards like this one and in the apps: 현위치 (hyeonwichi) is "you are here," 길찾기 (gilchatgi) is "directions," 출구 (chulgu) is "exit," and 출발 and 도착 (chulbal, dochak) are "start" and "arrive." Stations in big cities can have a dozen or more exits, so read the exit number in the route before you climb the stairs.
What still trips visitors up
Getting around Korea on foot is mostly a phone problem now. Yanolja Research went through 7,260 Reddit post segments about trips to Korea and Japan from 2023 to 2025 (Tech42 report). About 11 percent of the Korea posts included a complaint, against about 7 percent for Japan, and 27.8 percent of the Korea complaints were digital. Sign-up and identity checks led at 13.1 percent, followed by payment, app errors and wayfinding at 10.3 percent. On the street, Korea did better than Japan on transport and on-site services. The trouble starts at the screen.
A Korea Tourism Organization survey points the same way. Of visitors surveyed in late 2023, 56.2 percent used Naver Map to get around during the trip against 33.9 percent for Google Maps. Over 95 percent of those riding city buses or walking, of visitors heading outside the Seoul area, and of travelers from Japan and Southeast Asia used Korean apps while in Korea (KTO press release). The reasons they gave were exact departure and arrival times and details like which subway door gets you to the transfer fastest.
So set things up before you fly, when you still have time and Wi-Fi. Install Naver Map and KakaoMap, switch both to English, allow location, and look up your hotel so you have its Korean name and road-name address saved in a note. Browsing and directions work without an account; you only need to sign in once you want to save places. And get a data plan or eSIM sorted before you land, since live arrivals and directions need a connection.
Quick answers
Does Google Maps work in Korea? For finding places and planning transit, yes. For turn-by-turn walking or driving directions, no, not as of mid-November 2026. The government approved Google's map request with conditions in February 2026 and confirmed on November 13 that Google had met them, but Google hasn't launched directions in Korea yet.
Naver Map or KakaoMap: which is better for tourists? Make Naver Map your main app for its four languages and translated reviews, and keep KakaoMap as a second opinion for live bus, subway and ferry tracking.
Can I use Naver Map in English? Yes. Switch the language under Settings and the menus, directions and arrival times show in English. Korean reviews get machine-translated too.
When will Google Maps get directions in Korea? There's no official date. Korean media have reported a first-quarter 2027 target. The government confirmed on November 13 that Google met its security conditions, but the masked imagery still has to be delivered and the government will keep monitoring the process.
More from this blog
- Seoul Bus and Subway Guide 2026: T-money, Transfers and Tips for Tourists
- Seoul Taxi Guide 2026: Apps, Fares, Night Surcharge and Tips
- Restaurant Reservations in Korea Without a Korean Phone Number
Which map app did you end up trusting on your last trip to Korea, and what made you switch?
Cover: app icons of Naver Map, KakaoMap and Google Maps, which belong to their respective owners. Composite: A Korean's Take
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