The Minimum Wage Council is scheduled to hold a 12th round of negotiations to set the minimum wage for next year following continued disagreement between business and labor.

The meeting will convene at 4 p.m. on Thursday. The last round of talks the previous day ended in failure.

In the latest talks, the labor side proposed an hourly minimum wage of nine-thousand-570 won, or a 14-point-six percent hike from this year’s rate.

The increase is about five percent less than the 19-point-eight percent increase sought by labor during the previous round, which would have brought Korea’s minimum wage to ten-thousand won an hour.

The business sector also adjusted their proposal of a four-point-two percent cut from this year’s rate to a two-percent cut, bringing the wage threshold down to eight-thousand-185 won.

The proposal to cut the minimum wage invited an angry reaction from labor and prompted some council members to call it unrealistic, but the business representatives refused to budge.

The council thus recommended the labor representatives come up with a new proposal for Thursday's meeting that is below a ten-percent hike, while suggesting that the business representatives abandon their hopes of cutting next year’s minimum wage.

If the 12th round of talks continues past midnight, the council may announce the start of a 13th round and attempt to reach a conclusion before dawn on Friday.