The Bank of Korea(BOK) said last month's inflation dropping below three percent falls within its previously forecast range.

At a meeting with officials on Thursday, BOK Deputy Governor Kim Woong said the inflationary decline from the lower three-percent to the upper two-percent range is the result of a slowdown in price hikes in agricultural, livestock and fisheries products.

Assessing that the rise in cost of living remained in the mid-three-percent range, the deputy governor said inflation is expected to slow, centered around core inflation amid continued uncertainties over oil and agricultural prices affected by geopolitical risks.

He then pledged to thoroughly check up on the impact of the crisis in the Middle East, domestic trends and businesses' price hikes on inflation when drawing up economic forecasts for May.

According to Statistics Korea, inflation dropped to two-point-nine in April, after posting three-point-one percent for two consecutive months since February.