Consumer prices in South Korea were up 3.2 percent on year in December, Statistics Korea said on Friday.
That was shy of expectations for an annual increase of 3.3 percent, which would have been unchanged from the November reading.
On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, consumer prices were flat versus forecasts for an increase of 0.2 percent following the upwardly revised 0.5 percent decline in the previous month (originally -0.6 percent).
