South Korea's consumer prices rise 1.3% in August

South Korea's consumer prices rose 1.3 percent in August from a year earlier, staying in the 1 percent range for 10 straight months, a government report showed Monday. The consumer price inflation came in at an annual rate of 1.3 percent last month after recording 1.4 percent in the prior month, according to Statistics Korea. From a month earlier, the consumer prices gained 0.3 percent, up from a 0.2 percent rise in the previous month. The faster rise came amid higher prices of farm goods and petroleum products, the Finance Ministry said in a separate report. Core consumer prices, which exclude volatile prices of farm goods and oil products, increased 1.3 percent in August from a year earlier after advancing 1.5 percent in July.