Tuesday, October 3 2006 15:59 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: South Korea will become the 17th country to host a Formula One grand prix from 2010.

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone and Park Joon-yung, governor of South Korea's South Cholla province where a new circuit will be built, said on Monday that the agreement will bring the race to one of the world's leading car exporting countries.

Ecclestone said he would help to bring up Korean Formula One drivers in the hope of having a Korean team take part in the race one day.

German designer Hermann Tilke has been given the responsibility of designing the new 5.45-km (3.39- mile) circuit in the southwestern region at a cost of US$264 million in a joint venture by South Cholla province and the Korean F1 promoter M-Bridge Holdings.

Ecclestone has tried previously to bring Formula One to South Korea, striking a deal in 1996 with the Sepoong Engineering Construction Co Ltd to hold races at Kunsan City from 1998 to 2002.

The track was never built and Ecclestone won a subsequent court case in Britain allowing him to keep a payment of $11.75 million.