South Korea's headline inflation stays below 1% for 9 months

South Korea's consumer price inflation stayed below 1 percent for nine straight months, bolstering worries about possible deflation amid economic slump, a government report showed Tuesday.

Consumer prices rose 0.7 percent in August from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea.

The headline inflation declined from 0.8 percent in December 2014 to 0.4 percent in March before inching up to 0.7 percent in June. It stayed at 0.7 percent for three straight months.

Core consumer prices, excluding agricultural and oil products, climbed 2.1 percent on-year in August, maintaining a 2-percent growth for the eighth consecutive month.

The OECD-method core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, advanced 2.5 percent in August, staying above 2 percent for eight months in a row.