"We know this map is not perfect. One of the exciting things about maps is that the world is a constantly changing place," said Google's senior product manager, Jayanth Mysore, in a statement posted online. "We encourage people from around the world to continue helping us improve the quality of these maps for everyone with Google Map Maker."
The North Korean map comes weeks after Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, visited the reclusive country in a private trip with former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. Google says Schmidt's visit had nothing to do with this recent release.
"There is absolutely no connection in the timing," David Marx, a Google spokesperson, told ABC News. "This data has been in Map Maker since 2009. It commonly takes the Map Maker community a few years to generate enough high-quality data to be moved into Google Maps proper."
Marx said Google is encouraging volunteer mappers to improve the North Korea maps.
For all the details offered in the new map, much of North Korea remains largely unknown. Internet usage there is strictly limited to the upper echelons of society. The number of users are estimated to be around a few thousand out of a population of 24 million, with just more than 1,000 IP addresses registered. By comparison, there are 112 million IP addresses in neighboring South Korea, and 1.5 billion in the U.S.
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