South Korea's sports ministry said Friday it has started auditing the national curling federation struggling with administrative paralysis after a leadership vacuum. The Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism said it began a five-day audit on the Korea Curling Federation (KCF) to check problems regarding the curling body's administrative work, including providing support for the national team. The KCF has been suffering through a leadership vacuum since its president Jang Mun-ick failed to get approval from the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) in June. The national Olympic body said ineligible members participated in the KCF presidential voting. Since then, the KCF Vice President Kim Kyung-doo has been the interim leader. Under the KSOC rule, however, a sports organization without a new leader for 60 days needs to be designated "a collective management organization." The KSOC is scheduled to make its decision on the KCF in a board meeting on Aug. 28. If designated, the KCF will lose its authority and will have to be run by the KSOC's management committee. The ministry said it will look into whether the KCF has given enough support to the national team preparing for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics next year. The government recently decided to increase the budget for winter athletes, but if the money wasn't properly executed, the ministry said this could be a "serious problem." The ministry added it will also check whether there was a "factional conflict" inside the KCF that may have led to the leadership vacuum.
 In this photo taken on Aug. 11, 2017, South Korean curlers pracitce at Uiseong Curling Center in Uiseong, North Gyeongsang Province. (Yonhap)(Yonhap News)
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