Pres. Park to attend Climate Change summit in Paris on Sunday

Pres. Park to attend Climate Change summit in Paris on Sunday. November. 26, 2015 08:44. mhpark@donga.com.

President Park Geun-hye will take on a tour to Paris and Prague just six days after an overseas tour for multilateral meetings. She will be traveling from Sunday to Friday next week.

Park will attend the U.N. Climate Change Conference and other events while visiting Paris for three days from Sunday. At the summit, which will bring together more than 140 heads of state or top officials, President Park will explain Korea’s goal for greenhouse gas reduction, under which it aims to cut emission by 37 percent compared with business as usual (BAU) in 2030. She will visit UNESCO for the first time as a Korean president on next Tuesday, and deliver a special speech. In Paris, the epicenter of recent terror attacks, she will also hold discussions to counter terrorism.

The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae reportedly agonized over Park’s visit to Paris until the last minute. As Park reportedly asked “Do I have to visit without fail?,” the office reportedly prepared for the possibility to cancel the trip as well. However, the office confirmed her tour after hearing her say “I will see you in Paris” to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in Malaysia on Sunday.

Park will move to Prague, the Czech Republic on next Tuesday, and attend Korea-Czech summit and dinner reception, a Korea-Czech cooperative puppet show, and a meeting with ethnic Koreans there while staying in the Czech capital through Friday. She will also attend a Korea-Visegrad Group (four central European countries of the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary) summit, before holding bilateral meetings with members of the regional group. It is the first time that Korea will hold a summit with the Visegrad Group.