National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik has urged the ruling and opposition parties to reach an agreement on next year’s budget by next week.

During an emergency press conference on Monday at the National Assembly, Woo urged both parties to reach an agreement by December 10, the last day of the regular session.

He added that while Monday is the legal deadline to approve next year’s budget, he has decided not to present the budget bill during today’s plenary session.

Woo apologized to the people for the delay, but explained that it would be difficult to give them hope at this time. 

The main opposition Democratic Party had earlier sought to push through a reduced budget for the 2025 fiscal year, leading to fierce opposition from the ruling People Power Party.