Yeongam, South Jeolla · KR
Built on reclaimed land in Yeongam, this hybrid permanent-street circuit hosted the Korean Grand Prix from 2010 to 2013. The 3.49-mile layout combines a technical street section with a flowing permanent section.
Korean International Circuit is a permanent racing circuit, located in Yeongam, South Jeolla. Drivers cover 5.615 km (3.489 miles) and 18 corners each lap, run anti-clockwise.
The circuit opened in 2010 and holds FIA Grade 1 licensing. It appears on the Formula 1 calendar. Around 135,000 spectators can attend.
Yeongam was built to bring Formula 1 to South Korea, a 5.6 km circuit in South Jeolla province combining a permanent section with street-style stretches meant to run past a marina development that was never finished. The first Korean Grand Prix ran in 2010 and was won by Fernando Alonso in a race held largely in the rain.
The problem was where it is. The circuit sits far from Seoul in a rural part of the country, and neither international visitors nor local spectators came in the numbers required. After four races the provincial government withdrew funding and the event was dropped from the calendar in 2014. The track survives on regional championships such as TCR Asia, and it is the clearest example of a venue built for a Grand Prix that the surrounding infrastructure never supported.