Pyeongchang 2018 claim their budget should be finalised before the end of the month ©Canadian Olympic Committee ©Getty Images

Pyeongchang 2018 have denied that their latest Winter Olympics budget is being delayed by South Korea's political problems and "expect" it to be approved at some stage this month.

Pyeongchang 2018 President Lee Hee-beom had said after an International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coordination Commission visit at the beginning of October that the fourth Games budget for 2017 should be completed either later that month or in November. 

Since then, South Korea has been rocked by a political cronyism scandal leading to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye. 

The scandal centres around Park's links to Choi Soon-si, her 60-year-old adviser who exerted "undue influence" on policy-making, despite having no official Government role, it is claimed.

Most other elements of South Korean politics ground to a halt after the allegations first emerged in November, with it likely that budgetary discussions were also delayed.

Pyeongchang 2018 officials deny this has been the case, however, pointing-out that the 2016 budget was not finalised until March of last year.

"Pyeongchang 2018 budget for 2017 is under review at [the] Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism," a spokesperson told insidethegames today.

"Pyeongchang 2018 is expecting to have the 2017 budget approved in January."

South Korea is still rocked by protests and discontent over the political scandal ©Getty Images
South Korea is still rocked by protests and discontent over the political scandal ©Getty Images

There has been no other reason put forward as to why Lee's budgetary time-frame has not been met.

"We found the last three budgets were no longer realistic," the President said in October.

"So we are reflecting changing situations and revising the budget. 

"We are consulting over details with the IOC and the Government and expect it to be completed sometime in October or November."

The budget announced last year had increased by KRW ₩600 billion (£386 million/$518 million/€468 million) from the original projection of KRW ₩2.2 trillion (£1.4 billion/$1.9 billion/€1.7 billion).

South Korean officials claimed this was due to changes from the initial plans such as the addition of new events to the programme and the transfer of two venues - the Olympic Plaza and the International Broadcasting Centre - from the infrastructural to the operating budget.

insidethegames understands that the 2017 budget is expected to include further rises.

Lee-Hee Beom said last year that the budget should be finalised by October or November ©Getty Images
Lee-Hee Beom said last year that the budget should be finalised by October or November ©Getty Images

According to South Korean news agency Yonhap, Culture and Sports Ministry officials claimed last week that Olympic and Paralympic preparations remain a "top priority" in 2017.

They are also expected to increase funding for both Olympic and Paralympic sports in order to ensure improved home performances at next year's Games.

South Korea's Constitutional Court began hearing witnesses in the impeachment trial against Park last week.

It now has six months to decide if Park should be permanently ousted from her position in the same way another female leader of an Olympic host nation, Brazil's Dilma Rousseff, was last year.

Preparations for the Games, due to open in just 13 months time, have also been directly affected by the crisis.

It is alleged that Choi influenced construction contracts for Games-venues, as well as the process by which Cho Yang-ho was replaced by Lee as Pyeongchang 2018 President in May.