Electricity prices have been raised for the first time in about eight years since November 2013. 

The government and the state-run Korea Electric Power Corporation(KEPCO) announced on Thursday that the discount of three won per kilowatt-hour would end from the fourth quarter.

With the hike, a household using 350 kilowatt-hour a month will see a rise of one-thousand-50 won in its bills for the next three months.

Early this year, the government began to enforce a power rate system linked to the fluctuations of fuel prices, and slashed the rate by three won per kilowatt-hour in the first quarter. 

It froze the rates in the second and third quarter despite hikes in international oil prices in light of financial burdens brought on households by the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the government appeared to have decided to raise the price for the fourth quarter to reflect the rising fuel prices.