Overall consumer prices in South Korea were up 5.7 percent on year in October, Statistics Korea said on Wednesday.
That exceeded expectations for an increase of 5.6 percent, which would have been unchanged from the September reading.
On a monthly basis, inflation added 0.3 percent - unchanged from the September reading but above forecasts for a 0.2 percent gain.
Core CPI, which excludes the volatile costs for food prices, was up 4.2 percent on year - up from 4.1 percent in the previous month.
