The South Korean government said in a statement on Monday that the country's total public and private investment in carbon capture and sequestration would reach an estimated 2.3 trillion won ($1.92 billion) to 2019. Of the total, public sector investment would account for 1.2 trillion won, it said in a statement.

A government official said Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) was currently leading local investment. The state-run utility said last September it would spend 2.8 trillion won to develop environment-friendly technology including carbon capture and storage by 2020.

South Korea, the OECD's fastest-growing carbon polluter and the world's No.5 oil importer, a year ago vowed to invest 107 trillion won, or 2% of its annual GDP, in environment-related industries over five years staring from 2009.