The rival parties on Wednesday finalized the national budget for next year and agreed to pass it in the National Assembly later this week.

The deal was struck in a meeting of the floor leaders and chair of the parliamentary special committee on budget and accounts on Wednesday, agreeing to hold a vote on the budget at 10 a.m. Thursday.
 
The final bill is some four-point-two trillion won, or over three billion U.S. dollars, less than originally requested by the government.

Among the compromises was an increase in the contentious research and development budget by 60 billion won, while the funds for Saemangeum, the site of the catastrophic World Scout Jamboree, will increase by 300 billion won.

The bill also includes 300 billion won for the issuance of regional gift certificates.

The agreement comes amid a stalemate for more than two weeks as the rival parties contested the request for a 2024 national budget of 659-point-nine trillion, with items amounting to 56-point-nine trillion won at the center of the partisan dispute.