[Anchor]

Following our comprehensive analysis of this year's budget, SBS has been running a series of reports examining whether public funds—ranging from government employee training to forest fire recovery projects—are being properly utilized. Today, we take a look at the budget allocated for "temple experiences," which receives massive amounts of tax money under the banner of preserving traditional culture and promoting cultural tourism. We begin with the "Templestay" program, which swallows tens of billions of won every year.

Reporter Bae Yeo-un investigates sites built and repaired with taxpayer money that have either shut their doors or are nearly impossible to find.

[Reporter]

At Silleuksa Temple in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, a dedicated Templestay building stands tucked away in a corner of the temple grounds.

The paper doors are torn, and spiderwebs fill the undersides of the eaves.

A foul stench pierces the nose inside the underground dining hall.

[Ugh, it smells like mold...]

Though the building cost 750 million won in combined national and local government funds, it has not hosted a single Templestay for five years since 2021, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

When asked why,

[Official at Silleuksa Temple: It leaks. The ceiling is caving in, so how could anyone have a meal in there?]

However, the temple has received national subsidies four separate times specifically to repair the building, totaling approximately 380 million won.

Despite repairing the facility multiple times with state funds, they failed to fix the leaks, leading to the closure.

[Official at Silleuksa Temple: It's not like we can take on debt just to renovate and run it, can we?]

Although designated facilities can lose their status if they fail to host Templestays at least twice a month, the responsible authority stated it is only now taking action after five years.

[Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Official: We need to finalize within this year whether to strip its registration as an operating temple or force it to resume operations.]

Places like this are not isolated incidents.

Banyasa Temple in Yeongdong, North Chungcheong Province.

A government subsidy of 500 million won was funneled into this location under the name of a Templestay project.

Yet, the newly built experience center is nowhere to be found within the temple grounds.

It only appears after crossing a stream and walking uphill along a forest path for over 10 minutes.

With no directional signs posted, it is difficult even to locate.

The doors are firmly locked.

Looking through the windows, construction protective padding remains completely unpeeled.

According to the building registry, it was completed in July of last year, but finding any trace of actual use is difficult.

Temple officials stated that the space is only used when group participants are present.

[Official at Banyasa Temple: I understand the frequency of use is not very high. It is a building constructed with national funds, so not being able to utilize it is somewhat problematic. We are looking for ways to make better use of it.]

Over the past 20 years, national funds poured into the Templestay program have exceeded 380 billion won.

For the past decade or so, the budget has hovered around 23 billion won annually, increasing to 27 billion won this year.

(Camera Reporter: Seol Min-hwan | Video Editor: Park Na-young | Designer: Seo Seung-hyun | VJ: Kim Jun-ho)