[Anchor]
Following our comprehensive analysis of this year's budget, we have continuously reported on whether public tax funds are being properly utilized in areas such as public servant training and wildfire recovery projects. This time, we looked into the budget related to "temple experiences," which receives massive tax infusions under the pretext of preserving traditional culture and promoting cultural tourism. First, we examine the "Templestay" program, which receives tens of billions of won every year.
Reporter Bae Yeo-un investigated sites built and repaired with tax money that have either shut down or are nearly impossible to find.
[Reporter]
This is the dedicated Templestay facility tucked away in a corner of Silleuksa Temple in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province.
The paper doors are torn, and spiderwebs fill the undersides of the eaves.
An unpleasant, musty odor pierces the nose in the basement dining hall.
[Ugh, it smells like mold....]
Although the building was constructed using a combined 750 million won in national and local government funds, Templestay operations have been suspended for five years since 2021, which was during the pandemic.
When asked why,
[Silleuksa Temple Official: There was a water leak, and the ceiling is caving in, so how could we serve meals there?]
However, the temple has received national funds four separate times totaling approximately 380 million won under the pretext of repairing the building.
Despite repairing it multiple times with taxpayer money, they failed to fix the leaks, leading to the shutdown.
[Silleuksa Temple Official: It's not like we can take out loans to pay for the repairs and run it, can we?]
While designations can be revoked if Templestays are not held more than twice a month, the competent authority stated that it would only take action after five years.
[Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Official: We need to finalize within this year whether to remove it from the registered temples for operation or to resume operations.]
Places like this are not uncommon.
This is Banyagasa Temple in Yeongdong, North Chungcheong Province.
A subsidy of 500 million won was poured into it under the name of Templestay.
Yet, the newly built experience hall is nowhere to be found within the temple grounds.
It appears only after crossing a stream and walking up a forest path for over 10 minutes.
With no signposts, it is difficult even to locate.
The door is tightly locked, and looking through the window, the construction protective wrapping remains unpeeled.
Checking the building ledger, it was completed in July of last year, but finding any traces of use is difficult.
The temple stated that the space is used only when there are group participants.
[Banyagasa Temple Official: I understand that the frequency of use is not very high. It is problematic that a building constructed with national funds cannot be utilized. We are looking for ways to make better use of it.]
Over the past 20 years, national funds poured into Templestays alone have exceeded 380 billion won.
It has hovered around 23 billion won annually over the past decade, increasing to 27 billion won this year.
(Filmed by Seol Min-hwan | Video Edited by Park Na-young | Design by Seo Seung-hyun | VJ by Kim Jun-ho)
---
[Anchor]
Leaving facilities built with tax money idle is a problem in itself, but there are also places that push Templestays to the back burner while generating profits through cafes registered under individual names.
Reporter Noh Yu-jin investigated the scene.
[Reporter]
The Templestay experience hall at Jinkwansa Temple in Seoul.
This is a building constructed with 3.1 billion won in tax subsidies provided jointly by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Seoul Metropolitan Government, and Eunpyeong District.
However, the first floor, packed with customers even on weekdays, is operating as a cafe.
[Cafe Official: (Would it be possible for us to meet the owner?) Our representative is a monk.]
The business license for the cafe is registered not under a religious corporation or the representative of Jinkwansa Temple, but under the former head monk.
A private individual is running a profit-making business in a building constructed with tax money.
The business plan initially submitted included an exhibition promotion hall, a temple food experience center, and a tourist information center for foreigners on the first floor.
However, it ended up entirely different from the plan, operating as a cafe selling items like coffee.
Jinkwansa Temple maintains that there is no problem, stating that the Seoul Metropolitan Government approved it and that the profits are used for Templestay operational expenses.
[Jinkwansa Temple Official: When profits are generated there, those profits are used as operational expenses. That is the funding source for which we received business approval.]
The Seoul Metropolitan Government, the authority granting approval, also takes a nonchalant stance.
[Seoul Metropolitan Government Official: Details of the business progression can change during the design process, and we did not view this as a major change.]
However, experts hold a different view.
[Song Jin-ho / Visiting Research Fellow, Public Network for Fiscal Watch: Summarizing it simply by saying that the profits generated from the cafe are being put to good use for Templestays does not mean that the proper procedures were followed.]
Although Seoul city guidelines stipulate that the generation of profits and the entity to which they belong must be clearly determined, there is no mention of profit funds anywhere in the grant decision document.
There is neither a way to verify whether the profits are used for Templestays nor any grounds for sanction.
This contrasts sharply with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's explicit condition specifying that subsidies must be used in accordance with the operational purpose of Templestays.
To make matters worse, Jinkwansa Temple receives separate Templestay operation support funds from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Seoul Metropolitan Government every year.
The operation support funds received last year alone amounted to approximately 100 million won.
Another issue is that while receiving budgets as allocated, Templestays are actually put on the back burner.
Last month, there was not a single day when programs accessible to the general public were held.
[Jinkwansa Temple Templestay Official: (Are you not holding any in July?) We had work... a schedule in July, so it's on August 5th.]
Even on days they do open, it is only once a month.
The rule requiring day-trip programs to be held at least four times a month has become a dead letter.
Thirteen out of the 159 government-supported Templestay temples nationwide find it difficult even to accept reservations through their official websites.
[Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Official: If operations do not normalize, we are seriously considering measures beyond existing evaluations, such as excluding them from designated temples....]
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism stated that it will launch an on-site inspection.
(Filmed by Seol Min-hwan | Video Edited by Lee Hong-myeong | Design by Kim Min-young | VJ by Kim Jun-ho)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.