Apple has extended the emergency location-sharing feature on iPhones in South Korea from 5 to 30 minutes, following a request from the Korea Media and Communications Commission (KMCC) to aid emergency responders. The move was coordinated with local agencies, while KMCC also urged Google to adopt fairer app store policies to support developers.

Seoul: US tech giant Apple has improved an emergency location-sharing feature on iPhones for South Korean users at the request of the Seoul government, officials said on Wednesday.

The expansion of the service's duration, from the previous five minutes to 30 minutes, came at the request of the Korea Media and Communications Commission (KMCC) to better help emergency responders to accurately identify the locations of iPhone users in need of emergency assistance, reports Yonhap news agency.

The agreement was reached after a series of meetings among the KMCC, Apple, the National Police Agency, the National Fire Agency and the Korea Internet & Security Agency.

"Samsung Electronics smartphones do not have such limitations as they operate based on a different mechanism," a KMCC official said, noting Apple decided to offer the extension especially for South Korean users.