South Korea's Lee urges prompt passage of $17 billion extra budget amid Middle East energy crisis
SEOUL, April 2 (Reuters) - South Korean President Lee Jae Myung 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.
($1 = 1,521.6000 won)
(Reporting by Joyce Lee and Jihoon LeeEditing by Ed Davies)
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