Korea Auto Valley Operation accused of mishandling funds for Yeongam F1.

Shortly after news that the F3 race scheduled in Yeongam county was cancelled---a month after South Korea's first Formula One race there---because of spectator seating areas that did not pass, or even complete, inspection comes speculation that there is corruption afoot. From the Korea Herald:

Korea’s inaugural Formula One Grand Prix is over, but worries about its future are raging, with local organizations facing mounting criticism for their mishandling and misuse of the event.

South Jeolla provincial government, which approved and funded the F1 Korean Grand Prix, is planning to conduct inspections of the Korea Auto Valley Operation, the race organizer, according to a member of the provincial assembly.

“Over the next week, we’re going to look through all the documents of KAVO,” said Jung Hwan-dae, the vice-chairman of South Jeolla provincial assembly.

“We’re also planning to summon officials from KAVO to investigate how the money was spent. There is something wrong here,” the provincial legislator added.

Media have reported suspicions over the organization’s expenditure, citing that around 60 billion won ($53.7 million) was spent without proper documentation.

A KAVO spokesperson has denied illegal use of funds. The article, quoted in yesterday's post, has an unfortunate quotation from a provincial official about why the inspection wasn't completed:

Although the racing track was completed just in time, the organizer failed to complete a safety inspection on spectator seats after struggling until the last minute to build 80,000-seat stands.

“We knew that it was wrong, but there was no time for delay,” said an official from the South Jeolla government.

Yeongam had a four-year headstart, though, according to the earliest English-language article, which said the events had been planned, or "planned," for rural Jeollanam-do since 2006.