National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok on Monday to exchange views on the budget for next year, discussion of which has been completely halted since the short-lived martial law situation.

After the meeting, Choi told reporters that to maintain external credibility and economic stability, it’s necessary to promptly finalize the budget through an agreement between the ruling and opposition parties.

The finance minister called on Woo to take strong leadership and break the deadlock in negotiations.

But the parliamentary speaker slammed the minister for his remarks, saying it’s wrong to blame the National Assembly for the delay.

Woo said the declaration of martial law was an attempt to arrest the National Assembly speaker, the party leaders and lawmakers, and that it has made discussion of the budget in parliament impossible at the moment.

He said the rival parties should meet to discuss the suspension of the president’s duties and should negotiate the budget at the same time.