South Korea's consumer prices rose in ?April ?at the steepest pace in nearly two ?years on a surge in oil prices triggered by the Middle East conflict, raising the ?likelihood of interest rate hikes in the year's second half to curb inflation pressures. The consumer price index rose 2.6% in April from a ?year earlier, after rising 2.2% in ?March, government data showed on Wednesday, matching the median forecast in a Reuters poll and marking the biggest year-on-year rise since July ?2024.