The Asian country, one of the region's top greenhouse gas polluters on a per-capita basis, says it will ditch an option for an 8% increase from 2005 emissions levels by 2020, and decide between staying at between unchanged levels or seeking up to a 4% cut

A decision on the level to be adopted as a target will be taken by 17 November.

South Korea is not obliged to make binding cuts under the UN's Kyoto Protocol climate pact, but has come under pressure to slow the rapid growth of its greenhouse gas emissions from industry and transport.

The country has pledged to pump large amounts of money into environmental programmes, but it is also keen not to set too high emissions targets which could damage economic growth.

"The second option (unchanged) is relatively less burdensome and the third option ( 4%) will probably show our definite willingness for green growth," says Hyung-kook Kim, chairman of a presidential committee on green growth in a statement issued by the government.

But even the highest Korean option is tame compared with targets being set by many developed countries. The US, UK and Japan have pledged to cut their emissions 26%, 17% and 15% compared to 2005 levels.

All three options were considered to be ‘emissions reductions’ by South Korea because they would trim the country’s carbon dioxde output compared to a business-as-usual benchmark. The most stringent option would shrink South Korea's business-as-usual emissions by 30%.

Earlier this year the South Korean government said it will invest about $90bn in environment-related industries over the next five years, pushing stricter fuel efficiency and emission requirements.