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By Kim Hyo-jin
President Park Geun-hye will leave for Paris, Sunday, to attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference, Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday.
The President will stay in Paris for three days to attend the 21st yearly session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the 1992 U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that opens Monday, said presidential secretary for foreign affairs and security Kim Gyu-hyun during a press briefing.
Park then will move to Prague for a series of bilateral summits with the leaders of the Visegrad Group, an alliance of four Central European states -- the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia -- to discuss strengthening bilateral ties.
Earlier this week, Park returned from a 10-day visit to Malaysia, Turkey and the Philippines for a series of regional forums.
"Following her recent trip, it could be a somewhat demanding schedule," Kim said. "But this is expected to be another chance to increase the national interests in addition to overseas diplomacy in China and the U.S. this year."
The U.N. conference is scheduled to be held in Paris from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11.
A total 148 of heads of state and government are expected to discuss the signing of a new global climate agreement that will take effect in 2020, replacing the world's first carbon-cutting pact, the Kyoto Protocol.
Participants include U.S. President Barack Obama, China's Xi Jinping, Russia's Vladimir Putin, and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The conference comes just two weeks after deadly terrorist attacks killed 130 people in the French capital. Despite the high terrorism alert and remaining concerns of additional attacks, world leaders decided not to cancel the scheduled summit.
The French government has ramped up security for the conference in wake of the attacks, including a ban on public activities such as rallies and concerts.
Cheong Wa Dae did not comment on whether Park will visit the sites of the terrorist attacks.
The National Assembly Foreign Affairs Committee adopted a resolution denouncing the Islamic State (IS) Wednesday for its attacks in Paris.
"The Assembly, along with the entire nation, strongly denounces IS for the terrorist attacks," its resolution reads. It further mentioned lawmakers strongly support the French government in its efforts to combat terrorism.
