Admission to 65 Buddhist temples across South Korea will be waived from Thursday.

The Cultural Heritage Administration and the Jogye Order, Korea's largest Buddhist sect, signed an agreement on Monday for the administration to cover the costs of temples affiliated with the order in accordance with a law stipulating state funding for cultural assets.

Under the revised Cultural Heritage Protection Act, state-designated cultural properties can receive funding for the preservation or management of the properties from the government if they do not attempt to recoup the costs through admission fees.

This comes as temples, mostly within national parks, continued to charge fees even after fees for national parks were scrapped in 2007, setting off a long-term debate between the temples and national park visitors occasionally needing to pass through temples to climb mountains.