Consensus was reached between ruling and opposition parties on Tuesday to extend the legal retirement age of South Korean workers to 60 beginning in 2016.

Under the agreement, the public sector and big businesses with 300 or more employees should mandatorily set the retirement age at 60 from 2016 and other firms from 2017.

The ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party recommended the public sector and big businesses to gradually adopt the new retirement age.

Currently, no legal age limit is set for South Koreans to retire but all government offices and most private-sector businesses retire their workers at between 56 and 58.

The agreement requires approval from the Labor and Environment Committee, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly, and the main parliamentary session before coming into force.

The consensus, reached between the two parties, is no surprise, because it was their campaign pledge in December's presidential election. (Yonhap News)