KORFollowing our comprehensive analysis of this year's budget bill, we have been running a series of reports on whether taxpayers' money is being properly used, covering areas such as public official training and wildfire recovery projects. This time, we looked into the budget related to "temple experiences," for which massive amounts of tax funds are injected 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 taxes that are either shut down or hard to find.
[Reporter Bae Yeo-un]
This is the dedicated Templestay building located in a corner of Silleuksa Temple in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province.
The paper doors are torn, and spiderwebs fill the eaves underneath the roof.
A foul odor pierces the nose in the underground dining hall.
[Phew, it smells like mold....]
Although 750 million won, combining government and local funds, was spent to build this facility, the Templestay program has not been operated for five years since 2021, which was during the COVID-19 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, government funds received under the pretext of repairing the building amount to four times, totaling approximately 380 million won.
This means that even after multiple repairs with national money, they failed to fix the water leaks and had to shut down.
[Silleuksa Temple official: It is not like we can take out a loan to renovate and operate it, right?]
While designation can be revoked if a Templestay is not held more than twice a month, the competent authority stated that it would take action only after five years had passed.
[Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official: We need to finalize within this year whether to drop it from the list of registered operating temples or to resume its operation.]
There is another place like this.
Banyasa Temple in Yeongdong, North Chungcheong Province.
A subsidy of 500 million won was poured into it under the name of Templestay.
However, the newly built experience center cannot be seen anywhere inside the temple.
It appears only after crossing a stream and walking up a forest path for more than 10 minutes.
Without any signposts, it is not even easy to find.
The doors are tightly locked, and looking through the window, construction protection materials remain unpeeled.
Checking the building ledger, it was completed in July of last year, but it is hard to find any traces of use.
The temple side stated that the space is used only when there are group participants.
[Banyasa Temple official: I heard the frequency of use is not high. It is a building built with national funds, so not being able to utilize it is somewhat problematic. We are looking for ways to utilize it well.]
Over the past 20 years, national funds poured into Templestays have exceeded 380 billion won.
It has been around 23 billion won annually over the past decade, and increased to 27 billion won this year.
(Video reporting: Seol Min-hwan, Video editing: Park Na-young, Design: Seo Seung-hyun, VJ: Kim Jun-ho)
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[Anchor]
While leaving places built with taxes to sit idle is a problem, there are also places that put Templestays on the back burner and instead generate profits through cafes under personal names.
Reporter No Yu-jin investigated the scene.
[Reporter No Yu-jin]
The Templestay experience center at Jingwansa Temple in Seoul.
It is a building constructed with 3.1 billion won in subsidies from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Seoul Metropolitan Government, and Eunpyeong District combined.
However, the first floor, bustling with customers even on weekdays, is operating as a cafe.
[Cafe official: (Could we possibly meet the owner?) Our representative is a monk.]
The business registration name of the cafe belongs to the former head monk, not a religious corporation or the representative of Jingwansa Temple.
An individual is running a profit-making business in a building built with taxes.
The business plan submitted initially stated that the first floor would house an exhibition promotion hall, a temple food experience center, and a tourist information center for foreigners.
Instead, it turned out completely different from the plan, operating as a cafe selling coffee and other items.
Jingwansa Temple maintains that there is no problem, stating that the Seoul Metropolitan Government approved it and that the profits are used for operating expenses of the Templestay.
[Jingwansa Temple official: When profits are generated there, those profits are used as operating costs. It is with such funding sources that we received the business approval like that.]
The Seoul Metropolitan Government, the authority granting approval, also takes the stance that it is no big deal.
[Seoul Metropolitan Government official: The progress of a business can have its details changed during the design process, and we did not view that as such a major change.]
However, experts' opinions are different.
[Song Jin-ho / Visiting Research Fellow, Korea Civil Budget Center: Just wrapping it up by saying that the profits generated from the cafe are being spent on Templestays, that they are being well spent, is not a fair procedure.]
Even though Seoul Metropolitan Government guidelines require clearly stipulating whether profits will be generated and who they belong to, no mention of profits is found anywhere in the grant decision document.
There is no way to verify whether the profits are used for Templestays, nor is there any basis to sanction them.
This contrasts with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism explicitly specifying conditions to use subsidies strictly in accordance with the purpose of operating Templestays.
In addition, Jingwansa 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 about 100 million won.
Another problem is that while receiving budgets as allocated, Templestays are actually put on the back burner.
Last month, there was not a single day for programs in which general citizens could participate.
[Jingwansa Temple Templestay official: (Is it not held in July?) In July, we had work... we had a schedule, so August 5th.]
Even on days it is held, it is only once a month.
The rule stating that day-trip programs must be held at least four times a month has become a dead letter.
Out of 159 government-supported Templestay temples nationwide, 13 are in a situation where making a reservation is difficult even on their official website.
[Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official: If operations do not normalize, we are seriously contemplating measures beyond the 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.
(Video reporting: Seol Min-hwan, Video editing: Lee Hong-myung, Design: Kim Min-young, VJ: Kim Jun-ho)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.
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