The president pledged to expand government support to encourage more companies to introduce the flextime system and other measures to prevent workers from quitting their jobs due to child care and other domestic affairs.

"Our (government's) objective is to prevent situations -- in which women find it difficult to return to their jobs after giving birth and rearing their children -- from happening in the Republic of Korea," she said.

Over the last several years, Air Korea Ltd. has been running the program that reduces working hours for pregnant workers and offers "automatic" childcare leave after maternity leave, in addition to the flextime system.

The company explained that after it fully introduced the flextime system in 2014 it could hire more female workers, who once opted to stay at home to focus on childcare, and saw its corporate productivity rise and its employee turnover rate fall.

The government currently offers 400,000 won ($345) per employee to each company that has the flextime system in place.

Park said she would consider increasing the amount to 600,000 won.

With state support, the number of companies with the flextime system surged to 4,512 last year from the 319 recorded in 2013.

Park's visit to the company came less than a week after her visit to a local elementary school to promote an after-school program that her government has been expanding to help working mothers take better care of their children.

The Park administration has been carrying out a campaign for work-family balance through a multifaceted program that encourages public and private firms to introduce the flextime system or a smart-work program that allows workers to work at home with the use of smart devices. The program also includes tailored childcare services for working mothers.

The flextime system has been at the core of the government's campaign.

According to a recent survey conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry on 300 local companies, 96.7 percent of the questioned employees said that the flextime system has helped them strike a balance between work and family. Moreover, 92 percent of the employers polled said that the system helped improve work productivity. (Yonhap)