The National Assembly on Tuesday approved next year's national budget of 673.3 trillion won ($470.5 billion), reduced from the government's original proposal under pressure from the majority-held main opposition bloc.

The final package is a 2.5 percent gain from that of this year's but about 4.1 trillion won less than the government’s proposal. The bill passed 183-94 with 1 abstention in an assembly where the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea holds a majority of 170 out of 300 seats.

The government and the ruling People Power Party had sought a 3.4 trillion won raise until the last minute before the vote, but their talks with the Democratic Party fell apart later in the day.

It is the first time in the nation’s history that a national budget plan has been passed in the plenary session without bipartisan agreement.

After the vote, Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik noted that a supplementary budget should be drafted to cover sectors related to public welfare and economic recovery, leaving some room for a possible increase in the budget.

The passage of next year’s budget bill may relieve uncertainties for key policies, but some crucial industry bills, including the Chips Special Act, remain stalled amid the political turmoil triggered by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law declaration last week.

The chips act, proposed by the ruling party, aims to establish the legal grounds to support direct subsidies for chipmakers and their suppliers.

The support package, which includes measures to exempt chip research and development workers from the nation's 52-hour workweek regulation, has been introduced in response to calls for governmental support to enhance Korean chipmakers' competitiveness in the intensifying global competition.

A special act on expanding the power grid, the crucial work to support the development of the country's biggest chip cluster in Yongin, is also in limbo.

While chip powerhouses such as the US, Taiwan and Japan are quickly rolling out financial grants to strengthen their respective chip industries, Korea has only implemented tax breaks for investments in the sector.

"Timing is everything in critical technology industries," Park Jae-geun, a professor of electronic engineering at Hanyang University, said.

"If you can't secure the top or second spot in the semiconductor market, it is not only that you are making less money, but that you could end up losing money."

Park stressed how it is important for the country to prepare the infrastructure and secure the land for businesses in advance, to enable companies to swiftly build factories and produce critical products in time.

In the US, the Chips and Science Act is a massive support package to boost the chip industry; Japan also recently announced a new comprehensive economic plan pledging 10 trillion yen ($66.8 billion) for its semiconductor industry. China also established its largest-ever chip investment fund, the "big fund" valued at about $44.9 billion.

“Even in such political crisis, it is important to demonstrate that our economy, industry and trade systems continue to function properly,” Hwang Yong-sik, a professor from Sejong University College of Business and Economics, said.

“We need to closely monitor the developments in key areas such as semiconductors, automotive and batteries, alongside shifts in US government policies under the Trump administration.”