Asian leaders to discuss their future and climate chang

South Korean President Park Geun-hye and her Southeast Asian counterparts were to discuss how to move forward their ties on the second and last day of their special summit, Park's office said Friday.

The leaders were also expected to hold in-depth consultations on such issues as climate change and crisis management, according to Park's office.

The talks come amid global efforts to galvanize action on cutting emissions of heat-trapping gases that scientists blame for global warming.

South Korea has made a voluntary commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent from business-as-usual levels by 2020. Seoul made the pledge in 2009, despite not being subject to a mandatory reduction requirement under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, an international deal aimed at fighting global warming.

The leaders are gathered in this South Korean port city of Busan for a two-day special summit to lay out a blueprint for cooperation among South Korea and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), one of the world's fastest-growing regions.

ASEAN has emerged as one of the key trade partners of South Korea in recent decades. ASEAN is South Korea's No. 3 investment destination and second-largest trade partner, with two-way trade amounting to $135 billion last year, up 16 times from 1989, according to South Korean data.

Park and other leaders are set to adopt a joint statement at the end of a summit later in the day.

Earlier this week, Park held back-to-back meetings with leaders of Myanmar, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam.

She plans to hold talks with her Cambodian counterpart in Seoul on Saturday.

Park told some of the leaders during her bilateral talks that South Korean companies want to participate in infrastructure projects in the region, including a US$13 billion project to build a high-speed railway that stretches some 400 kilometers between Malaysia and Singapore.

Asian countries have emerged as the second-largest market for South Korean builders in recent years as local companies seek to diversify their businesses away from oil-rich Middle Eastern countries, the largest market for South Korean builders for decades. (Yonhap)