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Korea National Council of Consumer Organizations
Periodic Survey of Staple Commodities: Price of mackerel declined sharply while price of ham rose across the country in March
The survey revealed that the price of the majority of staple commodities largely leveled off without any significant fluctuations in March, compared with February. Ham turned out to be the commodity whose price rose most across the country, while mackerel was the item whose price declined across the country. The detailed outcome of the survey is as follows:(See Consumer Information Corner for a detailed survey outcome by region and item.)
The areas which turned out to have the highest and lowest consumer prices of staple commodities and services in the March survey are as follows:
First, the areas which experienced the highest consumer prices by item were: Goyang, which showed the highest consumer price of rice (54,900 won); Ulsan: Chinese cabbage (1,491 won); Busan: lettuce (2,505 won); Changwon: apples (3,278 won); Cheongju: pears (3,370 won); Changwon: beef (5,697 won); Cheongju: pork (1,640 won); Daegu: mackerel (2,983 won); Jinju: tofu (2,283 won); Cheongju: eggs (2,146 won); Wonju: ramen (493 won); Ulsan: ham (2,596 won); Jeju: milk (1,690 won); Changwon: yogurt (430 won); Jinju: fruit juice (2,040 won); Seoul: bottled water (378 won); Jinju: soju (958 won); Ulsan: beer (1,293 won); Goyang: powdered milk (19,749 won); Ulsan: Choco-Pie (2,042 won) and coffee (8,345 won); Suwon: canned tuna (1,373 won); Seoul: sugar (2,906 won); Jinju: flour (2,693 won); Wonju: sesame oil (5,510 won); Changwon: corn oil (3,965 won); Daegu: toothpaste (1,967 won); Goyang: synthetic detergent (7,535 won); Gwangju: boxed tissue paper (4,879 won); Cheongju: diapers (25,248 won).
Next, the areas which experienced the lowest consumer prices by item were: Daejeon: rice 41,876 won); Jeju: Chinese cabbage (982 won) and lettuce (1,312 won); Jeonju: apples (1,665 won); Busan: pears (2,079 won); Jinju: beef (4,110 won); Wonju: pork (1,333 won); Gwangju: mackerel (1,048 won); Incheon: tofu (1,253 won); Busan: eggs (1,669 won); Daegu: ramen (465 won); Goyang: ham (2,098 won), milk (1,600 won) and yogurt (345 won); Chuncheon: fruit juice (1,673 won); Wonju: bottled water (276 won); Cheongju: soju (859 won); Wonju: beer (1,123 won) and powdered milk (12,775 won); Jinju: Choco-Pie (1,668 won); Jeju: coffee (7,469 won); Busan: canned tuna (1,201 won); Goyang: sugar (2,367 won) and flour (2,245 won); Chuncheon: sesame oil (4,746 won); Goyang: corn oil (3,368 won); Busan: toothpaste (1,701 won); Jeonju: synthetic detergent (5,741 won); and Changwon: tissue (4,112 won) and diapers (19,464 won).
No items posted a dramatic increase in price over the preceding month across the country. However, the price of ham price rose while that of mackerel declined sharply across the country. Daegu was the area where the price of ham showed the greatest increase, by 13.7%, from 2,236 won in February to 2,543 won in March, while Jeju was the area where the price of mackerel showed the most significant decrease, by 22.0%, from 3,380 won in February to 2,714 won in March.
▶ Contact: Choe Eun-mi, Program Secretary (02-774-4050) |
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Seoul YMCA Citizens’ Mediation Center
[Open Complaint Delivered to KT Concerning its Poor Billing System] KT! Correct post haste your billing system, which leaves the abuse of stolen identities unattended in connection with subscription and bill payments for city local, broadband Internet and PCS services, KT!
- Subscription to city local and broadband Internet services is made verbally without any written form; consumers have to locate the subscription agreement.
KT PCS does not check the relationship between the handset subscriber and the account holder; a fundamental system reshuffle is required as stolen identity abuse is virtually left unattended.
It has been ascertained that the unattended abuse of stolen identity is not limited to PCS subscription and billing, but also prevails in the broadband Internet and city local phone services. KT-PCS virtually assists such unauthorized withdrawals as the company has no schemes for checking third-party abuse of stolen account numbers either before or after subscription. The company does not collect even an ‘application form’ at the time of subscription for its Megapass and city local phone services: at present, KT accepts subscriptions to its Megapass and city local phone services by phone. Subscribers are supposed to fax a copy of their ID card to authenticate their identity. Damages are unavoidable from the abuse of stolen ID cards as the company does not check the subscriber’s face against the ID photo. Furthermore, the subscriber is not provided with a copy of the subscription agreement. KT’s service is subscribed to almost the entire population ? 21.4 million subscribe to the KT city local phone service, six million subscribe to the Megapass service, and 2.3 million subscribe to the PCS service. Consequently, the poor subscription and payment system may inflict enormous inconvenience and losses on consumers from now on. Therefore, we demand the following of KT:
○ KT should immediately compensate all consumers who have incurred damages as
a result of its poor billing system.
○ KT should offer an open apology regarding the inconvenience and damages
caused by its poor subscription and billing system.
○ KT should implement re-training among the employees and managers handling
service subscriptions and service commencement.
○ KT should immediately improve its overall subscription and billing system.
Seoul YMCA and the Mobile Phone User League will focus on gathering information concerning cases where inconvenience has been caused by KT’s poor subscription and payment system, and they plan to stage an on- and off-line campaign after filing a formal complaint with the Communications Commission if the KT home office fails to actively improve its handling systems.
▶ Contact: Kim Hui-kyeong, Secretary (02-725-1146) |
