SEOUL, July 1 (Korea Bizwire) — Amid soaring prices, Koreans are buying lunchboxes at convenience stores or making their own lunches to save money as a so-called ‘lunchflation’ phenomenon takes hold. “I can save 3,000 to 5,000 won (US$2.31-3.85) each time I make a lunchbox,” said a 28-year-old office worker surnamed Shin. “I’m worried that [...]
SEOUL, June 28 (Korea Bizwire) — Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho asked companies Tuesday to refrain from excessively raising wages for employees as the move could further accelerate inflation. Choo made the request during a meeting with members of the Korea Enterprises Federation (KEF), including Sohn Kyung-shik, federation chief and CJ Group chairman, and Rhee In-yong, [...]
SEOUL, June 21 (Korea Bizwire) — Mini-packaged goods are selling well at large discount stores and the number of subscription coupon users is increasing for convenience stores as inflation woes persist. Discount store chain Homeplus saw the share of mini-packaged fisheries products sold during the period from June 1 to 15 mark a 20-fold increase [...]
SEOUL, June 19 (Korea Bizwire) — The government on Sunday announced a package of emergency measures, including additional fuel tax cuts and higher income tax deduction rates for public transit use, aimed at countering growing inflationary pressure. Starting next month, tax cuts on fuel consumption will be expanded to a legal cap of 37 percent [...]
SEOUL, May 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Inflation is resulting in higher lunch prices, prompting some to coin a new word “lunchflation” to describe the phenomenon. The Korea Consumer Agency reported that the price of “naemgnyeon,” cold buckwheat noodles served in various types of broth or mixed with spice, reached an average of 10,192 won as [...]
SEOUL, March 23 (Korea Bizwire) — Those in low-income groups are bearing a relatively higher inflation burden than those with higher incomes in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, a local research institute said. The Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) analyzed the change in prices felt by consumers for the periods of 2018-2019 and 2020-2021. [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s consumer prices grew at the fastest pace in 10 years in 2021 due to surging energy costs and high prices of farm products, data showed Friday, indicating a build-up in inflationary pressure for Asia’s fourth-largest economy. Consumer prices rose 2.5 percent this year from a year earlier, [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea plans to closely monitor prices of major agricultural, livestock and fishery goods starting next week in a bid to help stabilize inflationary pressure ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, a senior government official said Friday. The government will monitor the price movements of 17 items that [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea plans to temporarily cut fuel taxes in a bid to ease upward pressure on inflation amid surging oil prices, a senior government official said Friday. First Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon also said the government plans to additionally cut import tariffs on liquid natural gas (LNG), currently [...]
SEJONG, Oct. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s headline inflation dropped for the first time in September due to a decline in farm goods and weak demand, the statistics agency said Tuesday, the latest in a series of data backing an additional rate cut for Asia’s fourth-largest economy. South Korea’s consumer prices fell 0.4 percent [...]