South Korea Import Prices Post Biggest Jump Since 1998 on Iran War

South Korea’s import prices posted their biggest surge in nearly three decades, underscoring the scale of cost pressures rippling through the economy as the Iran war spurs a spike in oil and weighs on the won.

Import prices jumped 16.1% in March from a month earlier — the fastest monthly increase since January 1998 — and rose 18.4% from a year earlier, Bank of Korea data showed Wednesday. Export prices also climbed 16.3% month on month, highlighting broad-based inflationary pressure across trade flows.