Screen capture of online Wall Street Journal

Cheong Wa Dae announced in November an ambitious plan to cut carbon emissions by 30 percent from its business-as-usual level by 2020, which has drawn much attention from other governments and global news media. This is because Korea was the first among other emerging and developing nations to pursue such a bold reduction plan.

The New York Times said on Nov. 20 in the story "Industrialized nations unveil plans to rein in emissions," that while some countries'' pledges are conditioned on reaching a binding international agreement, some countries including South Korea had said they would act whether the world did or not.

The United Nations hopes that the richest nations will promise to reduce their emissions to meet negotiated individual targets; for developing nations, the hope is that they will commit to reducing their future emissions to levels below those that would accrue if they took no action, The New York Times explained.

South Korea, whose emissions nearly doubled from 1990 to 2005, said it would cut emissions by investing in energy-efficient buildings and transportation, developing new green industries and changing patterns of consumption, said the U.S. daily.

Screen capture of online Financial Times

It also quoted an interview with Kim Sang-hyup, Korea''s presidential secretary for national future and vision, saying that President Lee Myung-bak and his cabinet ministers had made the pledges for gas reduction in a building with the thermostat set low, and while wearing thermal underwear.

The United Kingdom''s Financial Times also referred to the reduction target reached at Korea''s presidential office Cheong Wa Dae and said, "South Korea is not among countries that must cut emissions under the existing Kyoto Protocol, and [the] voluntary target-setting could put pressure on developed nations to act more aggressively to fight global warming."

"Though there are doubtful prospects for the Copenhagen meeting, South Korea''s voluntary announcement of the national reduction target will be a chance to urge the international community to make responsible efforts," the FT quoted President Lee as saying.

South Korea''s reduction target reflects Lee''s ambitious "low carbon, green growth" policy, aimed at lessening South Korea''s dependence on fossil fuel and promoting the development of substitute energy sources, such as solar and wind power, and other technologies enhancing energy efficiency, the FT further said.