The Bank of Korea has released its data on South Korea's export and import prices for last month.<br />Our business correspondent Kim Hye-sung reports. <br />South Korea's import prices increased for the seventh consecutive month in July due to the weakening Korean won.<br /> The Bank of Korea says the import price index rose one-point-seven percent on-month, recording 89-point-eight-one in July, the highest monthly figure since November 2014.<br />Compared to the same period last year, the index is up more than twelve percent. <br /> The local currency weakened against the U.S. dollar, recording an average of one-thousand-1-hundred-22-point-eight won last month, pushing up Korea's import prices despite a slight fall in global oil prices. <br />In particular, intermediate goods prices increased more than two percent on-month on rising coal and chemical goods prices. <br />Without the change in the won-dollar exchange rate, the Bank of Korea says July's import prices would've ticked down zero-point-eight percent on-month.<br /> Export prices rose two-point-three percent on-month to 87-point-five-six. <br /><br /> "Export prices rose on the back of the weakening Korean won and the strong U.S. dollar. Export prices, especially of industrial goods like metals and machinery,... went up." <br /><br /> "The Bank of Korea says export and import prices -- import prices in particular -- affect future consumer prices, so this could mean higher inflation in the months to come.<br />Kim Hyesung, Arirang News." <br />
