"You Can See Everything in Pyongyang"... KakaoMap's Display of Major North Korean Facilities Creates a Buzz

Detailed Views of Pyongyang's Roads, Railways, and Universities

Naver Focuses on Topography, Limits Facility Information

Search Function Blocked... Users Must Move the Map Manually to Check

Kim Il Sung University, Mansudae Art Theater, Pyongyang International Airport... There has been growing buzz online as people discover that major facilities, roads, and even railway networks in Pyongyang, North Korea, can be viewed in relatively detailed form on KakaoMap.

Map of Pyongyang on KakaoMap. Screenshot from KakaoMap

According to the information and communications technology (ICT) industry on June 22, posts about viewing North Korean maps on KakaoMap have recently been spreading across various online communities.

In fact, if you move the map to Pyongyang in the KakaoMap app, you will see a range of landmarks including Kim Il Sung University, Pyongyang University of Education, and Pyongyang University of Computer Technology, as well as Taedonggang Station, Pyongchon Station, Mansudae Art Theater, and Pyongyang International Airport. Not only are major roads, rivers, and railway networks visible, but also hospitals, sports facilities, and government offices can be found. However, the directions feature is not supported.

According to Kakao, KakaoMap has been providing maps of North Korea in both standard and satellite views since 2014. The company explained that it builds its North Korean map data using a variety of sources, including maps from the National Geographic Information Institute.

Pyongyang map from Naver Maps. Screenshot from Naver Maps

North Korean maps can also be viewed on Naver Maps. However, Naver Maps provides more limited information about the region. When viewing Pyongyang, features such as rivers, streams, roads, and administrative districts are displayed, but most individual facilities do not appear.

This difference is related to how the map data is constructed. Naver Maps provides information on North Korea by integrating OpenStreetMap (OSM), an open-source mapping project where users worldwide can directly input and edit information about roads, buildings, and terrain. Like the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap allows anyone to add or modify map data.

However, on both KakaoMap and Naver Maps, you cannot immediately search for 'Pyongyang' or North Korean facilities in the search bar to bring up the map. Search for locations related to North Korea is restricted, so users must manually move the map northward to access information about the region.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.