South Korea's consumer prices rose at a 2 percent level for the second consecutive month in February, driven by a weaker local currency that pushed up import costs, data showed Thursday. Consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, increased 2 percent from a year earlier last month, according to the data from Statistics Korea. This follows a 2.2 percent on-year rise in January, which marked the steepest on-year increase since July. South Korea's consumer inflation has remained below 3 percent sinc

After more than a year of steadily rising prices, gim, crispy dried seaweed, has finally seen a slight decline in cost. According to data released Tuesday by the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation, the average retail price for 10 sheets of dried gim stood at 1,400 won ($0.96) as of Feb. 28. That marks a decrease of 27 won from the previous week and 76 won from the prior month. Despite the drop, prices remain high — 25 percent above last year’s 1,119 won. For 12 consecutive months, gim

The average South Korean consumed an estimated 30 kilograms of pork last year, according to data released Monday. South Korea’s livestock cooperative designated March 3 as Samgyeopsal Day — the date referring to the three layers of fat that give the cut its name — to promote sales of pork belly, with local retailers often running special discounts. According to data from the Korea Rural Economic Institute, last year’s per capita pork consumption marked a 6.8 percent increase from the five-year a