S Korea inflation accelerates to 2.1 percent

South Korea's inflation rate accelerated to 2.1 percent in October but remained comfortably within the central bank's 2.0-4.0 percent target range, government data showed Thursday. The consumer price index rose 2.1 percent year-on-year, compared with a 2.0 percent gain in September, according to Statistics Korea. Core inflation, which excludes volatile energy and food prices, was 1.5 percent in October, up from 1.4 percent in September. The government in June cut its headline inflation forecast for 2012 to 2.8 percent, from its previous estimate of 3.2 percent. The central Bank of Korea slashed its key interest rate by 25 basis points in October for the second time this year to 2.75 percent as it took advantage of the tame inflation rate to try and boost the slowing economy. South Korea's economy grew 0.2 percent in the July-September quarter from the previous three months -- the slowest pace in nearly three years as the eurozone crisis impacted investment activity.