South Korean President Lee Jae Myung gives a speech on the Government's first supplemetary budget bill of 2026 at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday 2 April 2026;
Credit: JEON HEON-KYUN/Pool via Reuters
SEOUL, (Reuters) - On Thursday 2 April 2026 South Korean President Lee Jae Myung urged parliament to promptly pass a €22.7 trillion won 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 Friday 10 April 2026.
The government plans to implement the budget as soon as it is approved by parliament.
