Consumer prices in Korea last month grew at the slowest pace in nearly 16 years.
Data released by Statistics Korea shows... that prices went up by a mere half-a-percent from a year earlier in February,... growing in the zero-percent range for the third month in a row.
Officials attributed the low growth to the recent drop in global oil prices,... which has dragged down domestic oil prices by over 5 percent.
Some analysts have voiced concerns about the possibility of deflation,... while others have ruled it out,... citing the fact that core inflation, which excludes petroleum products, grew by 2-point-3 percent from a year ago.