(LEAD) Conglomerates to make efforts for greenhouse gas emissions target

(ATTN: UPDATES with prime minister's meeting with chaebol leaders over Sejong City
at bottom)

SEOUL, Nov. 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's largest business association said
Tuesday its member conglomerates will make active efforts to meet the
government's ambitious target for greenhouse gas emissions.
Earlier in the day, the government of President Lee Myung-bak announced its
target to reduce emissions to 4 percent below the country's 2005 levels by 2020.
In a statement, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) said it "will actively
join the government's efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions." The federation
represents a number of large, family-run conglomerates, known chaebol, including
Samsung and Hyundai Motor.
The statement, which was released after the corporate lobby's monthly meeting on
the day, toned down the federation's previous stance that had requested the
government to adopt a weaker target for emissions cut.
"The FKI decided to launch an industry-wide campaign to voluntarily reduce
greenhouse gas emissions," the statement said.
Although South Korea is not obliged to cut emissions under the U.N.'s Kyoto
Protocol climate pact, Seoul has been under pressure to voluntarily reduce
emissions because it is the fastest-growing polluter among members of the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Later in the day, heads of the conglomerates, including Hyundai Motor Co.
Chairman Chung Mong-koo and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, held a dinner meeting
with Prime Minister Chung Un-chan.
The meeting drew attention because it came as the government is moving to revise
a controversial plan to relocate some of its key ministries and state bodies in
Seoul to a new city built in a central region and persuade some big companies to
move their facilities to the new city.
Construction on the new "Sejong" city, named after the Joseon dynasty king who
invented the Korean "hangeul" alphabet, in South Chungcheong province has
progressed about 40 percent.
The plan had been aggressively pushed by President Lee's immediate predecessor
Roh Moo-hyun to balance national development. But the incumbent government has
voiced doubts over the viability of the plan.
Instead, the government wants to make the new city as a corporate city by housing
key facilities of big-name companies.
About two-fifths of South Korea's 48 million people live in Seoul and its
neighboring areas.
In an address given to the dinner meeting, Chung promised to offer "considerable"
incentives to private investors in Sejong City.
"The government wants your attention and participation in efforts to grow Sejong
into a truly self-sufficient city," said Chung. The prime minister then stressed
the administration could provide private investors in Sejong with "low-cost land
and considerable fiscal incentives."
But almost all conglomerate leaders told reporters before attending the dinner
that their companies have yet to consider plans to move parts of their business
operations to Sejong.
(END)