Seoul, May 20 -- Samsung Electronics is bracing for a major strike beginning Thursday involving more than 47,000 workers as wage talks between the management and the union break down, a NBC report said.

The negotiations, mediated by Korea's National Labour Relations Commission, broke down after the electronics behemoth didn't accept one of the demands made by the union on bonus payments.

"The reason an agreement could not be reached .... is that accepting the labour union's excessive demands would undermine the fundamental principles of company management," a Reuters report quoted the company as saying.

The labour union spokesperson, Choi Seung-ho, said that the workers had agreed for talks that were mediated by the government but the ...