South Korea's finance minister on Tuesday called on lawmakers to break the prolonged parliamentary deadlock and "swiftly" pass major economy-related bills to help the government jump-start slowing economic growth.

"The pulse in our economy is weakening," Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said in a joint statement with other key policymakers.

"If those bills related to the livelihoods of the people do not pass during this session, and if we fail to revive the embers of economic recovery, the economy could go off track and face difficulty in turning itself around." (Yonhap)