A tripartite consultative body involving government, labor and management representatives held its inaugural discussion of a potential four-point-five-day workweek on Wednesday.

The team hopes to bring Korea's yearly average working hours, currently one-thousand-859, closer to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD) average of one-thousand-708.

The consultative body will discuss potential improvements to  Korean workplaces, including a possible four-point-five-day workweek and ways to encourage the use of annual leave, enhance productivity and improve work-life balance.

Both of the nation's major umbrella unions, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, have agreed to participate in the discussion. The Korea Enterprises Federation and the Korea Federation of SMEs represented management.

The team will collect opinions from worksites and hold a public debate over the next three months before announcing a road map for the reduction of working hours.