South Korea's major umbrella labor union declared Tuesday the breakdown of a trilateral deal on labor reform, citing the government's "unilateral" push for a plan to make the labor market more flexible.

It also said it will not participate in future talks with management and the government to address major labor issues.

Last month, the government announced draft guidelines to allow companies to formally sack underperforming employees and amend employment rules more easily even without consent from workers.

The Federation of Korean Trade Unions that represents labor in the trilateral talks, however, has fiercely opposed the plan. It argued that the government drew up the guidelines unilaterally, breaching a deal made on Sept. 15 in which the labor, management and the government agreed to have full discussions before releasing them.

"(We) declare the agreement null and void," Kim Dong-man, president of the FKTU said in a press conference held at the union's office in Yeouido, Seoul, adding the government and the ruling Saenuri Party are responsible for the failure.

He said the union will continue its battle against the reform through lawsuits and the upcoming general elections in April.

Under the current labor law, companies can terminate employees' contracts only when they are either involved in corruption or an embezzlement case or when the firm has to lay off workers due to serious financial difficulty. (Yonhap)