The government pledged Friday to push for an independent bill on labor reform after labor, management and government representatives failed to find middle ground on the issue deemed critical for raising the economy's competitiveness.

Seoul had given the so-called tripartite committee until Thursday to come up with a compromise, but the three parties were not able to see eye to eye as they were divided over key issues.

In an emergency press conference held in Sejong, Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said that he was disappointed that no compromise was reached by Thursday's deadline despite long-drawn talks.

"Under such circumstances, the government cannot wait forever, so it will take charge and push for changes that can create more job opportunities for young people and fuel economic growth," he said in a statement.

The government will work with the ruling Saenuri Party starting next week to iron out the bill, so it can be passed in parliament within the year, he said.

"Headway made so far at the tripartite negotiations will be reflected in the bill, and outdated and inflexible rules in the labor market needs to be overhauled," he said. "At the same time, every effort will be made to give greater stability to workers and more attention paid to helping those that are laid off."

Choi, who doubles as deputy prime minister in charge of economic affairs, said the government-Saenuri bill will include creating a fair screening system that will make it easier to dismiss under-performing workers, allow companies to change rules of employment and make it possible to introduce the wage peak system.

Existing labor laws make it very difficult to dismiss workers and any changes to the employment rules need to be approved by employees.

The wage peak system advocated by the government calls for people nearing retirement age to receive less pay, with the money saved to be used to hire new employees. This work sharing arrangement is critical because South Korea's retirement age will be pushed back to 60 starting in 2016, raising employment-related costs for companies.

As of August, the unemployment rate of young people stood at 8 percent, much higher than the 3.4 percent for the entire country.

He also said that there is a need for greater cooperation between management and labor, and unions must put an end to engaging in disruptive walkouts for wage hikes.

Choi cited moves by labor unions at Hyundai Motor Co. and leading shipyards to engage in strikes as prime examples of unreasonable labor practices that need to be changed.

The minister said that while the government engages in talks with Saenuri, it will accept any future agreements made at the tripartite talks set to resume on Saturday.

The government, meanwhile, said that companies too have been asked to make compromises such as pledging to hire a large number of new employees in the coming years as well as revising the way they deal with smaller business partners and small and medium enterprises.

"Such measures are costly, yet they can promote mutual growth between big companies and smaller companies that can help the economy," said Labor Minister Lee Ki-kweon.

He also said that besides these issues, the government will take steps to raise unemployment wages and reform the way fixed-term employment workers and temporary agency workers are treated to help resolve inequality and discrimination issues between the two. (Yonhap)