NEWS BRIEF

[Anchor Lead]

Consumer prices rose six percent on-year in June, in the fastest pace increase since 1998. According to Statistics Korea on Tuesday, the consumer price index recorded 108-point-22 in June, up six-percent from a year earlier. It is the largest on-year gain in 23 years and 7 months since 6.8% of November 1998. By item, prices of industrial goods rose 9.3% while petroleum products in particular spiked 39.6% on-year. Electricity, gas and water prices also jumped 9.6% last month.
South Korea's foreign reserves have decreased for four months in a row. The Bank of Korea said today that foreign currency reserves stood at 438.2 billion U.S. dollars as of the end of June, down by 9.4 billion dollars from a month earlier. The central bank said the value of non-dollar assets declined with the appreciation of the greenback while financial institutions also saw a drop in their dollar deposits. Measures introduced to stabilize the foreign exchange market are also considered to be another factor.
South Korea has begun transporting its first lunar orbiter "Danuri" to the United States ahead of next month's launch. The science ministry said that Danuri left the Korea Aerospace Research Institute in Daejeon this morning, headed to the launch site at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The orbiter will be flown to the US and arrive at the space center on Thursday. After a month-long preparation, it will be launched in the morning of August 3 carried by a SpaceX rocket.