Alternative Way
Although “Pokemon Go” was not officially launched in in Korea, people in some areas such as Sokcho could play the augmented reality (AR) game which attracted great popularity last summer. It is expected that "Pokemon Go" will make a foray into Korea soon.
This is because it was confirmed that Niantic Labs, the developer of “Pokemon Go,” has begun their business activities in Korea in earnest and is able to implement maps in other way without Google Maps data. The absence of the map data was blamed for a delay of the game’s launch in Korea.
“I am trying to get the service started as soon as possible because Korea is a very important market for us," said Dennis Hwang, director of Naiantick at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul on November 14. “It is difficult to say the detailed schedule but we will launch the service as soon as possible.”
In particular, the company's other game “Ingress” began to show a map of Korea, which is the reason why people think that the launch of “Pokemon Go” in Korea is imminent. Meantime, “Ingress” had not shown a Korean map but the map suddenly appeared in early November. The company succeeded in showing a Korean map other than Google Maps.
It seems that as there has been controversy over whether or not Korean precision map data were allowed to fall into the hands of Google, Niantic Labs has updated the map in a roundabout way
It is said that “Pokemon Go” can also realize a Korean map in this way. "We have been maintaining good partnership with Google because we underwent an incubation period at Google," Dennis Hwang said. “But it's not desirable for us to rely on one single company for all data.”
“An AR game is basically a walking game, so it is difficult to promote the game in the US where automobile-based lifestyles are popular,” said Dennis Hwang. "Seoul is optimized for AR games as Seoul is a city with nice public transportation facilities and beautiful temples fronting tall modern buildings,” Hwang emphasized.