S.Korea's consumer prices edge up 0.5% on-year in May

South Korea's consumer prices in May grew less than 1 percent for six months in a row, fueling concerns about serious signs of deflation in the economy.

Statistics Korea figures showed on Tuesday that the consumer price index inched up 0.5 percent on-year last month. The inflation rate was marginally higher than the 0.4 percent recorded in April, which was the lowest since 1999.

However, when excluding the effect of the cigarette price hike, the index appeared to post negative growth, analysts say.