A shopper browses the milk at a supermarket in Seoul on Thursday. According to Statistics Korea, milk prices saw a 9.9 percent jump in 2023, the steepest surge in 14 years since the global financial crisis in 2009. The upward trend in milk prices also led to price hikes in other dairy products, including yogurt (12.5 percent) and cheese (19.5 percent). (Yonhap)