South Korea's consumer prices rise 1.1% in January

South Korea's consumer prices rose 1. 1 percent in January from a year earlier, staying in the early 1 percent range for three straight months. From a month earlier, the consumer prices gained 0.5 percent in January after rising 0.1 percent in the previous month, according to Statistics Korea. The faster on-month gain was attributable to the Lunar New Year holiday that moved to January this year from February last year. Farm goods prices tended to soar ahead of one of the country's largest holidays. Prices for electricity, tap water and gas prices increased 2.3 percent in January from a month earlier due to a 5.8 percent hike in city gas prices.