Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, right, presides over an emergency meeting of economy-related ministers at the Government Complex Seoul, Sunday. Yonhap

Supplementary budget discussions can no longer be delayed, as politicians and economic officials must prioritize talks in light of threats posed by U.S. President Donald Trump's car tariffs and the worst-ever wildfires in Korea's history, analysts said Sunday.

However, talks for the extra budget have made little progress for months, although politicians and financial bureaucrats are increasingly agreeing to the idea as the country faces tough challenges and a bleaker economic outlook.

"Under the circumstances, any further delay will only worsen economic growth," Hanyang University economics professor Ha Joon-kyung said.

The professor noted that the gloomy economic outlook is, in large part, due to Trump's hostile tariff policy, which was behind the OECD's drastic cut this month in its 2025 GDP growth projection for Korea, from 2.1 percent to 1.5 percent.

The tariff policy will directly affect Korea this week, as a 25 percent duty will be newly imposed on all imported cars.

The import duty is expected to impact Korea's exports — a key pillar of the country's economy — since cars are a top export item, with the U.S. accounting for more than 50 percent of Korea's automotive exports.

Lawmakers from the opposition bloc make a joint announcement as they demand a supplementary budget for the research and development sector concerning artificial intelligence and other high technology, at the National Assembly in Seoul, Feb. 3. Yonhap

Another pillar — consumer spending — is also expected to take a hit from the largest wildfires to date, which have devastated southeastern Korea since March 21.

As of Saturday, wildfires have destroyed areas larger than 67,000 football fields, according to authorities. These areas include farms for garlic, mushrooms and other regional specialties that will take years to regenerate in the aftermath of the disaster.

"Both exports and consumer spending face a greater risk, with affected businesses in desperate need of the government's financial support in addition to a regular budget," Ha said. "Accordingly, the rival parties and the government are urged to work together to strike a deal on a supplementary budget."

Shin Il-soon, an economics professor at Inha University, said the car tariffs could potentially lead to "a cycle of adverse effects" on exports and private domestic expenditure.

Shin added that domestic carmakers, mainly Hyundai Motor and Kia, will increasingly shift their manufacturing operations to the U.S. over Korea to avoid heavy import taxes.

As a result, domestic automotive suppliers — many of which are small and medium-sized enterprises — will make less profit, and their workers will earn less income to spend in the coming years.

"For these suppliers, a supplementary budget will be a matter of life or death and politicians should realize the urgent nature of these businesspeople," Shin said.

In addition to the regular 673.3 trillion won ($457.71 billion) budget for this year, the need for extra spending was first raised by the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, looking to provide cash handouts and vouchers to citizens.

The ruling People Power Party and the government were against the allocation of a supplementary budget.

However, they are now open to the idea, as the political crisis caused by President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law in December spread across financial markets and other parts of the economy.

The parties remain divided over the scale and specifics of the extra expenditure.

With regard to the wildfires, Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok said Sunday that allocating at least 10 trillion won worth of extra budget "will be essential to help the disaster-stricken people."

"I accordingly request the rival parties to help approve the plan," Choi said during an emergency meeting of economy-related ministers at Government Complex Seoul.

He also said that extra spending should focus on three areas: responding to emergencies and disasters, boosting competitiveness in trade and artificial intelligence and improving people's livelihoods.