South Korea said Wednesday that it will strengthen vehicle emissions control by 2020 in order to meet global standards for greenhouse gas reduction targets.

The Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will lower the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions target to 97g/km for the 2016-2020 period, from the 140g/km target for the 2012-2015 span.

South Koreans living abroad will be allowed to file for a national identification card starting in January if they plan to stay in their home country for at least 30 days, the government announced Thursday.

The Ministry of Security and Public Administration said starting Jan. 22, 2015, overseas South Koreans may receive resident registration cards to be used in their native country for a stay of 30 days or longer.

Lee Jay-hyun, chairman of the food and entertainment conglomerate CJ Group, enters a courtroom at the Seoul High Court in Seoul on Sept. 12, 2014. The court commuted the jail term of the 54-year-old tycoon to three years from four years, convicting him of embezzlement and tax evasion. Lee was indicted for misappropriating 165.7 billion won (US$156 million) in company assets to offshore slush funds and dodging taxes in the process.

Shown is a file photo of South Korea's second research base in the Antarctic. The Jang Bo-go Antarctic Research Station consists of 16 facilities covering 4,458 square meters of land that can house up to 60 people, including a 16-member staff that will be permanently stationed there. It uses solar and wind energy to significantly cut its use of fossil fuel. The base made South Korea the 10th country in the world to have more than one research station on the frozen continent. The country's first research station -- the King Sejong Station -- is located on King George Island in the western part of the Antarctic.