The rival parties agreed Thursday to restart talks on reforming civil service pensions, an issue that has gained urgency amid the government's growing deficit.

Talks have been stalled since the so-called body for grand national compromise decided last Friday to launch a separate task force to handle the issue.

The ruling Saenuri Party and main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy have wrangled over how long the task force should operate for, with the ruling party demanding it finish work by the middle of this month and the opposition party objecting to any deadline.

The parties' floor leaders -- Rep. Yoo Seong-min of the Saenuri Party and Rep. Woo Yoon-keun of NPAD -- met to discuss the issue and agreed to put a special parliamentary committee and the task force in operation starting Friday, their deputies said.

The deadline for the committee's operations was extended from next Tuesday to May 2, while the task force will draw up a proposal for submission to the committee as soon as possible, without a set deadline.

The task force will be made up of seven members -- two from the government, two from labor unions, two experts jointly recommended by the rival parties, and one expert on public pensions also jointly recommended by the parties.

President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday renewed calls for pension reform, saying by next year the government will be forced to use 10 billion won ($9 million) in taxpayer money every day to fund civil service pensions unless the parliament passes a reform bill by early May. (Yonhap)