A tripartite dialogue held among government, business and labor officials has failed to reach an agreement on an extension of the unit period for the flexible work hour system. 

A committee under the Economic, Social and Labor Council convened a plenary session on Monday afternoon but failed to narrow differences after ten hours of talks. 

After the talks ended early on Tuesday, the committee head Lee Chul-soo told reporters that an agreement was supposed to be reached by Monday, but the deadline had been missed, and it was decided to continue discussions for another day. 

Under the current system, weekly work hours are not to exceed 52 hours, but workers are allowed to work up to 64 hours per week when deemed necessary provided they reduce work hours during other weeks. Such flexibility is allowed for up to three months, but the government plans to extend this to six months in consideration of complaints from businesses. 

Labor unions are strongly opposed to the plan, saying the revised system would hamper employees' health and offset the effect of reduced working hours.