South Korea's consumer prices increased zero-point-three percent in July, rising for the first time in three months.

The consumer price index in July stood at 104-point-86, up zero-point-three percent compared to June, according to Statistics Korea on Tuesday.

Consumer prices grew less than one percent on-year for 12 consecutive months in 2019, but increased more than one percent during January to March this year. 

However, the growth rate fell back below one percent in April due to the fallout from the COVID-19 epidemic and further declined to minus zero-point-three percent in May. The inflation remained flat in June.

The slow acceleration of inflation was attributed to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which caused international oil prices to drop. 

In addition, a slowed increase in food prices and the government's free education policy also caused consumer price growth to remain low.