Park to support launch of deal on climate change

President Park Geun-hye plans to support the planned launch of 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 South Korea's plans to help developing countries improve their capabilities to respond to climate change at the leaders' event on Monday, Cho Shin, senior presidential secretary for future strategy, told reporters.

The leaders' event -- 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 responses to climate change should be as viewed as "an opportunity to secure a new growth engine, not a burden."

The conference is set to run through Dec. 11 to try to produce a deal that is set to 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 post-2020.

In June, South Korea offered to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 37 percent by 2030 from 850.6 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents, an amount Seoul says it would reach if it lets business run as usual.

Earlier this month, Park and other leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum said they are "firmly committed to achieving a fair, balanced, ambitious, durable, and dynamic agreement on climate change" during the conference to be held in Paris. (Yonhap)