The new government of South Korea, among the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases, plans to cap emissions at 2005 levels for the next five years despite Seoul's exemption from cuts under the Kyoto protocol. The environment ministry presented the proposal to freeze emissions until 2012 on Friday in a report to Lee Myung-bak, president, in an effort to join international efforts to fight global warming. Although South Korea is the world's 12th largest economy, it is classified as a developing country under Kyoto and therefore not required to make cuts. The UN agreement has made it mandatory for industrialised nations to reduce emissions by an average of 5 per cent between 2008 and 2012 from 1990 levels. "We want to join international efforts to cut emissions,following the international agreement in Bali last December,' said Park Chun-kyu, a manager at the ministry's department of climate change. South Korea was one of about 130 countries that promised to take concrete steps to curb emissions and fight global warming at a UN climate change conference in Bali in 2007. Seoul is part of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, organised by US President George W Bush to promote research and development of clean energy technology South Korea is the world's ninth-biggest emitter of carbon dioxide as its annual emissions doubled between 1990 and 2005 to 591million tonnes. The rate of increase has eased in recent years but the ministry estimates that emissions are likely to rise 2.2 per cent every year until 2012 if the government does not take any action. The ministry's plans for a freeze however remain hazy. The government plans to urge provincial government and public institutions to implement measures to voluntarily curb emissions and to require organisations to declare their current emissions. It plans to seek a 20 per cent reduction in emissions from non-industrial sectors such as households, commercial buildings, public enterprises and transport. The environment ministry said it will unveil more detailed measures later this year and said that the plan would not hurt economic development significantly as the government seeks to raise energy efficiency and to encourage development of environmentally friendly technology. However, the automobile industry could be hit by the plan as the government plans to issue guidelines on auto emissions. It also plans to raise the number of buses powered by natural gas to 21,936 by 2010 and expand the use of hybrid cars by public institutions to 1,930 units by the end of this year. The plan has sparked strong complaints from environmental groups in the country. "We are just talking about keeping the status quo while others are drastically reducing emissions,' said Lee Yoo-jin, an activist at Green Korea. "The plan shows that the government has no strong will to actively cope with the climate change and to reduce emissions. The measures are too vague.'