South Korea's consumer inflation accelerated more than expected in May, hitting a more than two-year high driven by elevated oil prices amid the Middle East conflict.
The consumer price index rose 3.1% from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics, up from 2.6% in April and exceeding the 3.0% forecast in a Reuters poll. Month-on-month, prices increased 0.5%, matching the previous month's pace but above the expected 0.3% rise.