> - External map providers were iced out of hte market until this past year
This was a positive for literally every Korean resident and only a negative for Google shareholders and a few tourists who had to download a local maps app. Boohoo, politicians doing things benefiting their people.
> - You need a phone number to sign up for literally anything.
The reality is that this also has many upsides. Admitting this doesn't do well on HN though. The truth is that it's a defensible tradeoff, you can disagree with it but pretending it's clear-cut is ignorant.
> - the de-facto document format are crappy hancom formats
In 2026 nobody uses these except for when dealing with government institutions. Saying they're de facto for Korea as a whole is wild generalization.