Both South Korea’s export price index and import price index saw downturns for the first time in five months as of November, mainly due to the strength of the won against the greenback.

The import price edged down 0.4 percent to 82.87 in November, while the export price sank 1.8 percent to 85.68, according to data by the Bank of Korea released on Tuesday.

The drops came in spite of oil price hike in November, overshadowed by strengthening local currency, according to BOK. On the contract currency basis, excluding currency exchange rate factor, export prices and import prices rose 0.5 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)