The Minimum Wage Commission will convene for a third plenary session to discuss next year's rate.

Talks on Thursday are expected to focus on whether to apply different wages by industry.

Businesses argue that the minimum wage should be lower for industries that lack the payment capacity, such as lodging and food service businesses, while labor groups are demanding that a uniform rate be applied to fulfill the system's objective.

The session comes a day after the Federation of Korean Trade Unions(FKTU) decided to suspend participation in a tripartite dialogue with management and the government in protest over an injury suffered by an affiliated executive during his arrest.

The executive, who is one of the nine minimum wage panel members representing labor, will be absent on Thursday, but the FKTU said it will participate in the wage discussion as the issue concerns the livelihoods of 25 million laborers.

While the minimum wage jumped five percent this year to nine-thousand-620 won, or just over seven U.S. dollars, per hour, it is expected to break the ten-thousand-won mark next year if raised by at least three-point-95 percent.