Korea

The Korea International Circuit lies near Yeongam in South Jeolla Province, about 320 kilometres south of Seoul and close to the port city of Mokpo. The lap is 5.615 kilometres long, has 18 corners and runs anti-clockwise. Hermann Tilke designed it as a mix of permanent and temporary sections. The temporary part runs along the harbour side of the province, where spectators could watch from the promenade, from hotels and from yachts. The venue has room for 135,000 spectators.

During construction, heavy rain delayed the soil improvement work. The FIA inspection was therefore pushed back to 11 October 2010. Some facilities were still unfinished, and the track surface had only received its first layer. After two days of inspection, race director Charlie Whiting judged the circuit satisfactory.

The lap begins with a double left-hander, followed by a straight of 1.160 kilometres that leads into the slowest corner on the track, a second-gear right. The tight sequence of turns four to six is also taken in second gear. Fast fifth-gear bends follow before turn ten, a tight right-hander with a braking zone on a downhill slope. The rest of the lap is laid out like a street circuit, and turn 17 is a long right-hander surrounded by walls.

The first Korean Grand Prix took place on 24 October 2010 and was the 17th of 19 races that season. The circuit stayed on the Formula One calendar until 2013. The pit exit fed into the outside of turn 1. In practice in 2011, Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg hit Jaime Alguersuari's Toro Rosso there. Following complaints from the drivers, the FIA had traffic lights fitted at the end of the pit lane, and in 2013 the exit was extended around turn 1.