Photo : YONHAP News
Prices of key ingredients in kimchi, including napa cabbage and radish, increased year-on-year, some two weeks ahead of the pre-winter kimchi-making season.
According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corporation (aT) on Sunday, the retail price of a napa cabbage was nine-thousand-123 won on average, or around six U.S. dollars and 66 cents, as of Friday.
The price is 39-point-eight percent higher compared to a year earlier and 41-point-six percent higher than the yearly average between 2019 and 2023.
The price of radish stood at three-thousand-561 won, up 25-point-four percent on-year and 46-point-nine percent compared to the past yearly average.
The gains in prices of napa cabbage and radish are attributed to the prolonged heat wave that lasted until last month, which led to a reduction in supply.
The Agriculture Ministry, however, expected the prices to drop nearing the kimchi-making season next month due largely to an increase in shipments starting late October.