President Park Geun-hye plans to support a new deal on combating climate change, an official said Friday ahead of the president's trip to France to attend a crucial U.N. conference on the issue.
Park is scheduled to leave for Paris on Sunday for the conference meant to produce political momentum for the negotiations on a new legally binding deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Park is set to present Korea's plans at the leaders’ conference on Monday, to help developing countries improve their capabilities to respond to climate change.
The leaders' event _ at the opening of the conference _ is set to bring together leaders from more than 140 countries, including U.S. President Barack Obama, as well as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Park has said climate change should be viewed as “an opportunity to secure a new growth engine, not a burden.”
The conference, set to run through Dec. 11, is to try to produce a deal that will be applicable to all countries and seeks to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius.
More than 160 countries _ which account for about 90 percent of global emissions _ have put forward climate targets for 2020 and beyond.
In June, South Korea offered to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 37 percent before 2030 from 850.6 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents, an amount Seoul says it would reach if it lets business run as usual.