Team Korea pays America’s Cup entry fee

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Team Korea has paid its entry fee for the 2013 Louis Vuitton Cup, the elimination series for America’s Cup challengers.

It’s the first time a team from Korea has challenged for the America’s Cup.

The team will have to finalize its design and begin building its own AC72 catamaran. Major components of the 72-foot boat must be constructed in Korea.

Team Korea, skippered by Australia’s Nathan Outteridge, has proven itself a solid competitor in the AC World Series and heads into the final event of the 2011-12 season in fifth place.

Team Korea joins Sweden’s Artemis Racing, Emirates Team New Zealand and Italy’s Luna Rossa Challenge as challengers.

Competitors recently voted to extend the entry deadline for challengers to Aug. 1.

The winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup, scheduled for July 4-Sept. 1, 2013, will face defender Oracle Racing of San Francisco in the 34th America’s Cup on San Francisco Bay.