South Korea’s National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik deferred a Democratic Party (DP)-led budget bill for 2025 during Monday’s plenary session, citing the lack of bipartisan agreement. Woo urged lawmakers to negotiate before the Dec. 10 deadline to avoid disruptions to public welfare and government operations. The original legal deadline to pass next year’s budget was Monday.

The DP’s proposal, passed unilaterally in a Nov. 29 committee vote, seeks to cut approximately $2.9 billion (4.1 trillion won) from the government’s $482 billion (677.4 trillion won) budget. Targeted reductions include special activity funds (SAFs) for the presidential office, prosecution and