Kakao adds easy three-word address name function for company map

[Courtesy of Kakao Map]

SEOUL -- The digital map service wing of South Korea's web service company Kakao has introduced "What 3 Words" (W3W), a three-word address name function developed by a British startup, to help people find places easily in a country with complicated street-name based addresses.

A digital map using W3W is divided into a grid of squares of 3 square meters (32 square feet). Each square is assigned with randomly generated unique three words with no special meanings such as "Bowl Watch Rain" and "Rocket Dog Bird." The system helps people find and share any location quickly and easily.

Kakao Map said in a statement Tuesday that W3W is ideal for naming addresses which are difficult to explain such as a picnic spot in the middle of a huge park or a back alley in a complicated urban area. Also, Kakao Map users can remember their own personal spots.

"W3W can provide more precise mapping services by supplementing the limitations of existing mapping services," Kakao Map's service team manager Cho Sung-yoon was quoted as saying. "We hope it will become useful in recording personal places or locations."

South Korea replaced its century-old land lot-based address system with a street name-based system in January 2014. However, many still persist in using the old address system as the new system creates difficulties in interpretation and understanding. Almost every delivery services in South Korea use the two systems together to minimize confusion.

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com

Kakao adds easy three-word address name function for company map

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