Kim Hyuntae, Commander of the 707 Special Mission Group
Commanded 197 members of the 707 Special Mission Unit among the martial law troops entering the National Assembly during the December 3 emergency martial law

"(When I got off the helicopter) the National Assembly building looked so big"
"Tmap was turned on to check the structure and give orders"

"If such an incompetent order had been given in battle, everyone would have died"

707 Special Task Force Commander: "Unit members were victims exploited by Kim Yonghyun"

707 Special Task Force Commander: "During martial law, I was ordered to remove lawmakers if the number exceeded 150"

The navigation information provider Tmap has suddenly been caught up in the aftermath of the martial law controversy. It became known that the 707 Special Task Force Commander used Tmap to understand the structure of the National Assembly during the martial law situation, drawing attention on online communities and elsewhere. Tmap is the largest company in the domestic navigation application (navigation app) market, holding a high market share of 74%.

Colonel Kim Hyuntae, Commander of the 707 Special Task Force, held a press conference in front of the War Memorial of Korea in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on the 9th, and revealed that after receiving orders to enter the National Assembly during martial law, he "turned on Tmap to check" because he was unfamiliar with the building's structure.

He used Tmap to understand the structure, but the general consensus is that there is not much difference when compared to other navigation apps like Naver or Kakao. An industry insider said, "Platforms that provide map services use digital topographic maps and aerial photos from the National Geographic Information Institute," adding, "The location information on maps is very similar."

As a result of actually running the Tmap, Naver Map, and Kakao Map apps, there was no significant difference in the map information values.

Official from the National Geographic Information Institute

"The National Assembly is a security matter, so map information is security processed"

"Map services provided by private companies are created separately by each company"

In fact, after running Tmap, Naver Map, and Kakao Map apps, there was no significant difference in the map information values. In fact, when looking only at map services (not navigation), Naver offers Road View, providing more detailed visuals. An official from the National Geographic Information Institute said, "The National Assembly is a security-sensitive facility, so the map information is handled with security measures," and "the map services provided by private companies are created separately by each company." Tmap and Kakao do not provide an internal Road View service for the National Assembly building.

Industry insiders say this is inevitable for the company holding the number one market share in the domestic navigation app market. According to data released last March by research agency Consumer Insight, 74% of smartphone navigation users use Tmap, while Kakao Map and Naver Map account for 12% and 7%, respectively.