Greenhouse gas emissions in South Korea were reduced by 0.8 percent in 2014 compared to a year earlier, marking the first time in 18 years for the figure to decline, the government said Sunday.

The Greenhouse Gas Inventory & Research Center of Korea (GIR) said the emissions recorded 690 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents in 2014, reduced from 696 million tons tallied in the previous year.

The figure has been constantly increasing from 656 million tons in 2010 to 682 million and 687 million tons in 2011 and 2012, respectively, according to the research center under the Office for Government Policy Coordination.

The latest decrease is attributable to the increase in energy created by nuclear power plants and the decrease in thermal power generation, the center said, after holding a meeting of statistics management committee in Seoul on Thursday.

Last year, South Korea offered to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 37 percent by 2030 from 850.6 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents, an amount Seoul says it would reach if it lets business run as usual. (Yonhap)