SEOUL -(Dow Jones)- A South Korean government committee formed to promote green growth has proposed that the country's greenhouse gas emissions be cut by either 27% or 30% by 2020 from business-as-usual levels, and plans to choose between those alternatives on Nov. 17, the presidential office said Thursday.

The committee has shortlisted the two targets from three scenarios, dropping a plan for a reduction of 21%.

The two proposed scenarios are equivalent to freezing emissions at the 2005 level, or 594 million tons of carbon dioxide, or cutting them by 4%, the office said in a statement.

The goal will be finalized after a cabinet meeting Nov. 17.

The committee said the scenario of a 27% reduction would be less of a burden to the country, while the 30% cut plan would show a strong commitment to green, or environmentally sustainable, growth.

In the building sector, which accounts for 25% of the country's greenhouse gas emissions, South Korea plans to cut emissions 31% from business as usual levels by 2020.

In the transportation sector, which accounts for 17% of South Korea's emissions, it plans to trim emissions 33%-37%.

The country will sharply raise investment in railways, while reducing investment in construction of roads.

An environmental watchdog--The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change--has recommended that developing countries cut emissions 15%-30% by 2020.

-By Shin Jung-Won, Dow Jones Newswires; 822-2198-2240; jung-won.shin@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-04-09 2217ET