The government and the ruling People Power Party(PPP) say they will consider marking down or eliminating the minimum for unemployment benefits provided by the government.

Following a meeting of the party’s special committee on labor reforms on Wednesday, chief policymaker Park Dae-chul said the current lower limit of the allowances and overly generous eligibility thresholds have cultivated cyclical abuse of the system as people repeatedly receive short-term employment and unemployment allowances.

The possible abolishment of the minimum, which currently stands at roughly 80 percent of minimum wage, has invoked concern from the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions(KCTU).

In a statement released on Wednesday, the KCTU said that if the bottom limit of unemployment benefits is lowered or scrapped, low-income laborers' ability to maintain their livelihoods during times of unemployment will be drastically reduced.

While agreeing that the unfair distribution of benefits must be stopped, the main opposition Democratic Party argued that attempting to root out abuses by hurting laborers who justifiably receive such allowances would be a change for the worse.