National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik on Monday postponed a parliamentary vote on the 2025 budget bill by one week, amid the main opposition’s push to unilaterally pass its proposed budget cuts.

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, which holds a majority in the 300-seat National Assembly, had been gearing up to put the downsized budget bill to a vote during Monday’s plenary session.

The opposition proposal would cut over 4 trillion won ($2.86 billion) from the initial 677.4 trillion won plan for 2025 drawn up by the Yoon Suk Yeol administration. The ruling bloc in recent days has ramped up its calls for the main opposition to drop the unilateral proposal, saying cuts would create obstacles for the Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s pursuit of key initiatives.

"After much consideration, we have decided not to present the budget bill at today's plenary session," Woo said during a press briefing held around noon.

"I sternly urge both (the ruling and the main opposition parties) to pass the budget by Dec. 10, which is the final day of the regular parliamentary session," he added.

Woo asserted that the current budget process has failed to “give hope” to the people and called for the two major parties to cooperate in renegotiating the proposal.

“I have decided (to postpone the vote) as the current budget process cannot give hope to the people. The Assembly has a responsibility to draw up a budget plan that can stabilize the livelihoods of the people and the economy, as well as give hope to the socially vulnerable,” he said.

Prior to Woo’s announcement, 10 prominent lawmakers with the ruling People Power Party, including floor leader Choo Kyung-ho, visited the Assembly speaker to protest the main opposition’s move to railroad the downsized budget.

The ruling party lawmakers also demanded that the Assembly on Monday not hear motions by the main opposition to impeach the head of the state-run Board of Audit and Inspection and three prosecutors who found first lady Kim Keon Hee not guilty in an alleged stock manipulation scheme. Woo's announcement of a postponement, however, did not include the impeachment motions.

The Democratic Party plans to table the impeachment motions in Monday’s session and put them to a vote on Wednesday. By law, an impeachment motion should be put to a vote within 24 to 72 hours after it was first reported to a plenary session.

Earlier in the day, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok called for the main opposition to scrap the downsized budget, echoing the presidential office’s statement released the previous day.

“I express deep regret over the main opposition’s irresponsible and unilateral move (to railroad the budget plan) as the minister of an administrative agency handling the national budget,” Choi said in a joint press briefing of economy-related ministers.

“I ask the main opposition to withdraw its unilateral budget cut proposal, which is unprecedented in our constitutional history, and engage in negotiations (with the government) in a sincere manner,” added.

On Friday, the Assembly’s Special Committee on Budget & Accounts, a standing committee currently led by the opposition and tasked with reviewing national budgets, agreed to report the downsized 673.3 trillion won plan to Monday’s plenary session. Committee members with the ruling People Power Party boycotted the session in protest.

Choi pointed out that the downsized budget proposal would set back local businesses amid global economic uncertainties triggered by the incoming Donald Trump administration in the US.

“The main opposition has overplayed its hand by pursuing its downsized budget proposal as we face both internal and external challenges in an economic crisis involving increased trade protectionism (of the US policy) and instability in global supply chains,” he said.

“(The downsized budget plan) could downgrade and damage our sovereign credit rating … there have been cases overseas (in the past) where uncertainties displayed in policymaking, including those related to budgets, had negative effects on a country’s credit rating.”