South Korea's consumer prices rose at a faster pace in June, raising concerns that inflationary pressure is mounting despite the government's price stability efforts, a report showed Friday.

   According to the report by Statistics Korea, the country's consumer price index rose 4.4 percent last month from a year earlier, quickening from the previous month's 4.1 percent gain.

   The figure represents the sixth straight month that consumer prices have jumped over the government's renewed annual inflation target of 4 percent for this year.

   Excluding volatile oil and food costs, core inflation rose 3.7 percent from a year earlier. It was up from 3.5 percent tallied for May, the report showed.

Source: Yonhap News (July 1, 2011)