SEOUL – South Korean President on Thursday urged parliament to promptly pass a 26.2 trillion won ($17.3 billion) supplementary budget to shore up the economy amid “the worst energy security threat” posed by the Middle East crisis.
“Even if the war ends tomorrow, it will take a considerable period of time for the destroyed energy infrastructure facilities in the Middle East to be restored and supplies to run as smoothly as before,” Lee told parliament in a televised speech.
Parliament is expected to pass the extra budget by April 10.
The government plans to implement the budget as soon as it is approved by parliament.