Nintendo’s newly released but already hugely popular Pokemon Go game is likely to face some issues in South Korea due to security concerns. While, the game hasn’t been officially released in many parts of the world including South Korea, many Pokemon fans have been able to download the game through unofficial channels such as APK websites. The issue in South Korea arises as Pokemon Go makes use of Google Maps to determine the location of its users and is an issue in South Korea as the government has limited access to map data, making it impossible for Pokemon GO to be played in the country. South Korea is technically still at war with its neighbor, North Korea. According to Dutch research firm Newzoo, South Korea is the fourth largest gaming market in the world, coming in behind China, the United States and Japan. Not being able to push out the game to South Koreans might result in a loss for Nintendo and Niantic.
South Korean users have been flocking to Sokcho, a city close to the border of North Korea where Pokemon Go can be played. It just so happens that the area is not considered to be in South Korea territory, according to Google Maps. The city has made use of its new found status and has been sharing maps of areas in the city with free Wi-Fi so that Pokemon GO users won’t have to burn through their data and has even nicknamed itself “the only Pokemon Go holy land on the peninsula”. In Australia, where the game has already been officially launched, up to 1,300 Pokemon Go users have complained of logging-in problems over the past couple of days. This is likely caused by server issues as the servers aren’t able to handle all the traffic which is coming in from all over the world yet, and is worsen by the fact that users in countries where the game has not been officially released yet, are playing the game.
Pokemon Go has also helped Nintendo’s shares to rise rapidly over the past week, gaining 46% which has added nearly $10 billion to the company’s market value. However, its share prices have dropped 6% on Wednesday, though it is only a small loss for an overall larger gain.