Korea’s mayors and governors are big fans of international events ― be they sporting competitions, festivals or conferences. This is largely because they believe hosting international events will make them look like competent local administrators in this age of globalization.

So many local governments in the country compete to host international events, with mayors and governors painting rosy pictures ― often exaggerating, or miscalculating their effects on their own provinces and municipalities.

Many of these events end up as disastrous failures ― like the Formula One Korean Grand Prix, which was held from 2010 to 2013 but was dropped from the calendar for the global racing circuit last year.

Local organizers of the event, including the provincial government in South Jeolla Province, said that the races would generate 2 trillion won in production inducement effects, create 14,000 jobs and bring about 100 billion won in profits.

From the beginning, many were skeptical of these rosy projections, but the local government pushed ahead with the construction of a race circuit in Yeongam, about 40 km southwest of Gwangju, which alone cost 428.5 billion won.

It would have been strange if the race had turned out to be a success. Car racing remains unpopular in Korea, and the circuit’s location and the lack of accommodation facilities combined to incur 190.2 billion won in accumulated operating losses during the four years.

Moreover, the Korean organizers who canceled the race last year and again this year may have to pay huge penalties for violating the contract, which obliges them to hold the races until 2016.

Put simply, what had been touted as a golden opportunity to put a small rural town on the map of the prime global racing circuit and bring money to the locality has left nothing but an ugly structure gathering dust amid deep sighs and taxpayers’ anger at the waste of their precious money.

We witnessed a similar problem with the Incheon Asian Games last year, which left the municipal government with huge debts. The cases of the Korean Grand Prix and Incheon Asiad should offer lessons to all mayors and governors who are thinking about hosting international events.

In the same vein, Gangwon Gov. Choi Moon-soon and other organizers of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics should prioritize making the Games as economically viable as possible.