Seoul mayoral race: Poll lead holds, but undecided voters and turnout loom large Seoul’s political mood is hard to read. Poll numbers are moving, but many voters are holding back. The central dynamic in the race is this: public sentiment appears to be shifting, but many people still hesitate to vote. Recent published polling trends still show a gap, with candidate Jeong Won-o ahead and candidate Oh Se-hoon closing in. But reading the race only through charts is risky. The key is momentum. Oh’s gradual rise matters because small shifts can become the start of a turnaround. Against that backdrop, Jeong’s campaign was hit by a controversy over a promotional post citing a poll. The material was posted without required disclosure items such as the polling firm and survey period, then deleted at what critics called “the speed of light.” The episode left a political impression beyond a simple mistake. A front-runner needs steadiness, not haste, and the incident suggested a campaign in a rush. With similar disputes said to have occurred repeatedly, Jeong’s camp may struggle to avoid criticism of poor oversight. In politics, impatience can be costly. The more a candidate leads, the more composure voters expect. When a small error hardens into doubts about why a campaign is rushing, the contest can shift from numbers to psychology. For Jeong, the immediate need is tighter management, not more messaging. For Oh’s side, the moment creates an opening. Challengers start at a disadvantage, but they can benefit first when the race becomes unstable. If the opponent repeats mistakes, momentum can move without direct attacks. In that sense, elections can reward the side that holds steady when the other side wobbles. The biggest variable, however, may be undecided voters. In conversations with residents, a pattern keeps emerging: distrust of politics, fatigue with the two major parties, and signs of weakening willingness to vote. One resident described themselves as “undecided” while sharply criticizing certain political behavior. Yet when asked whether they would vote, the answer became uncertain. That reflects a slice of Seoul’s mood. This type of distrust-driven undecided voter could be decisive. They do not move easily, but when they do, they can shift the race. The risk is if they do not move at all: turnout falls, and the side with stronger organization gains an advantage. It is a democratic paradox — anger without action — and the article describes it as a warning sign. Intense political clashes and disputes over prosecutors and special prosecutors are also adding to fatigue rather than energizing voters, the article says. Instead of generating momentum through conflict, politics is widening cynicism. A typical result in such moments is a low-turnout election. The race, then, is not only about who leads in support. It is also about who can get more voters to the polls. A front-runner can stumble through complacency, and a challenger can flip the contest by seizing an opening. Meanwhile, undecided voters may delay their decision until the end. For now, the article concludes, sentiment in Seoul may be moving, but whether it turns into votes remains unclear — and the gap could close quickly depending on who bridges it first. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-05-02 16:21:18

Pokémon leaps off screen as game IP craze paralyzes Seongsu SEOUL, May 02 (AJP) - Crowds are continuing to line up for a Pokémon pop-up event in Seoul’s Seongsu-dong on Saturday, a day after tens of thousands of fans packed the area and prompted organizers to suspend parts of the event just hours after it opened. The continuing turnout shows how game and animation intellectual property, or IP, is increasingly moving beyond screens into offline spaces, drawing massive crowds through pop-up stores and experience-based events. The event, held to mark the 30th anniversary of the Japanese animation and game franchise, drew large crowds from early morning as fans gathered for a pop-up store operated by Pokémon Korea. Authorities began receiving multiple reports around 10:30 a.m. that the area was becoming dangerously crowded. No injuries were reported. Pokémon Korea had opened the pop-up store in Seongsu-dong and held an event offering rare cards to visitors who participated in games. The promotion drew fans during the Labor Day holiday, while visitors to a Pokémon-themed garden installed at the nearby 2026 Seoul International Garden Show in Seoul Forest also added to the crowd. Photos and videos posted on social media showed narrow streets in Seongsu packed with people, with some users expressing concern over crowd safety. According to Seoul city estimates, the number of people in the Seongsu cafe street area rose from around 26,000 at 10 a.m. to about 40,000 by noon. The organizer suspended the event around noon at the request of Seoul city and other authorities. Some participants protested the decision, leading to brief disputes at the scene. Police officers were deployed to mediate and manage the crowd. The trend comes as pop-up stores have become a mainstream marketing channel in Korea. According to Sweet Spot’s 2025 Pop-up Trend Report, 3,077 pop-up stores were held across its network last year, up 109 percent from a year earlier. Seongdong District, which includes Seongsu-dong, accounted for 35.38 percent of pop-ups in Seoul. Sweet Spot also said more than 60 pop-up stores were operating in Seongsu-dong in a single week as of April 2026, showing how temporary retail events have become a regular feature of the district rather than one-off promotions. Cushman & Wakefield’s 2025 Seoul High Street Retail report said the district is evolving from a pop-up store hub into a flagship destination, recording the lowest vacancy rate among major commercial districts in Seoul. The shift also reflects the growing commercial value of character and content IPs. KOCCA’s latest annual report showed Korea’s content industry sales rose 2.6 percent to $112 billion in 2025, while exports grew 5.9 percent to $14.91 billion, driven in part by character businesses. 2026-05-02 15:05:19

BTS’ ‘ARIRANG’ Holds U.K. Top 100 for Sixth Week; No. 4 on Billboard 200 BTS’ fifth full-length album, ‘ARIRANG,’ has stayed on the U.K. Official Charts Top 100 for a sixth straight week. According to Yonhap and other reports on May 2, ‘ARIRANG’ ranked No. 17 on the Official Albums Chart Top 100, down four spots from the previous week. The title track, ‘SWIM,’ placed No. 41 on the Official Singles Chart Top 100, down seven. The releases also remained on U.S. Billboard charts. ‘SWIM’ fell 10 places to No. 22 on the Hot 100, while ‘ARIRANG’ slipped three spots to No. 4 on the Billboard 200. HYBE said the album reflects BTS’ identity and universal emotions, combining traditional symbols with a modern sensibility to underscore the group’s message. BTS stepped up promotions in March with a large-scale comeback performance at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul to mark the album’s release. Since April, the group has expanded global activities with the ‘BTS WORLD TOUR ARIRANG,’ including stops in Goyang and other cities. 2026-05-02 14:45:16

Chinese Diplomats Visit North Korea’s Border Region Near Planned Russia Bridge As North Korea and Russia push ahead with construction of a road bridge over the Tumen River, Chinese diplomats stationed in North Korea visited the North Korea-China-Russia border area to review local conditions. Yonhap News Agency and the Chinese Embassy in North Korea said Wang Chongling, a minister-counselor, led a delegation that visited North Hamgyong province and the city of Rason from April 25 to 30, inspecting five factories and exhibition facilities. The embassy said Wang’s group also visited the Wonjong-ri trading port in Rason for “survey, research and inspection” activities. Wonjong-ri is a key hub for North Korea-China trade and links to the Quanhe trading port in Hunchun, China’s Jilin province. Yonhap reported the trip included Jin Yanguang, China’s consul general in Chongjin, along with Jang Gwang-nam and Rim Gwang-ho, researchers at North Korea’s Foreign Ministry Asia 1 Bureau; Ri Jun-pil, head of Rason’s external affairs bureau; and Kim Song-chol, deputy head of North Hamgyong’s external affairs bureau. The visit came shortly after North Korea and Russia officially set out a completion schedule for the Tumen River road bridge. On April 21, the two countries held a ceremony in the border area to mark the bridge connection and accelerate the project. The bridge project was agreed at a June 2024 summit in Pyongyang between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two signed a “comprehensive strategic partnership treaty,” which took effect in December that year. The new bridge is designed as a two-lane, two-way structure about 800 to 850 meters long and 10 meters wide. It will be built about 400 to 415 meters downstream from the existing Tumen River rail bridge, built in 1951 and known as the Korea-Russia Friendship Bridge. The project is expected to strengthen overland links between the two countries and improve logistics efficiency.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-05-02 13:54:17

Pokemon Event Overwhelms Seoul’s Seongsu-dong, Highlighting the Power of Content On May 1, Seoul’s Seongsu-dong effectively ground to a halt. Streets filled with people, mobile service nearly failed, and routine movement became all but impossible. Some posted warnings not to head toward Seongsu; others complained they could not get online. It was not an accident or a disaster. The cause was simple: a Pokemon event. Many people’s first explanation is nostalgia: a childhood character and storyline returned, drawing crowds. That is part of it, but not the whole story. Pokemon is not just a legacy brand. It remains a growing industry, expanding through new games, animation and merchandise. Children and teenagers still consume it, while adults return with their memories. When two generations move at once, the pull goes beyond a passing trend. The crowd in Seongsu-dong cannot be reduced to a single motive. Some came for childhood memories, some for games they play now, and others because it was “the hottest place” at the moment. With those drivers operating at the same time, the turnout swelled faster and larger than expected. A key point emerges: modern content is increasingly built to mobilize all ages at once. Event design amplified that effect. This was not a simple exhibition. It used a participatory route: visit specific spots, collect stamps and receive rewards. The model has already been proven worldwide through Pokemon GO. Games no longer stay on a screen; they pull people into the streets and make them move through real space. In that process, the city becomes a play space, not just a backdrop. Viewing the surge as a spontaneous wave misses what happened. The outcome was planned: where people would gather, how they would move and where spending would occur. Routes, rewards and even time on site were designed. The Seongsu-dong crowd was not accidental but a “planned crowd,” reflecting how the content industry has moved beyond storytelling to shaping behavior. The scene also showed a modern feature of mass gatherings. Thousands shared the same space, yet interaction was limited. Most stared at smartphone screens, completing individual missions. It looked like a festival, but it was a collection of individual actions. Where older festivals connected people to one another, many current events connect people to content. People are together, but also alone. The pattern is not unique to South Korea. In 2016, in New York’s Central Park, thousands rushed in after word spread that a rare character appeared soon after Pokemon GO’s release. News reports showed cars stopping and people running out. Tokyo has seen similar scenes: long lines at Pokemon events and congestion serious enough to require police control. Content-driven movement has become a global phenomenon. Comparable cases appear in other industries. U.S. streetwear brand Supreme draws long lines on release days. Scarcity and the value of the experience lead consumers to line up not only to buy, but to participate. Apple also draws lines for new product launches. The common thread is demand for an experience, and that experience is often designed by companies. Problems arise when the structure scales too far. Crowds can signal economic vitality: local businesses benefit and a city’s brand value can rise. But beyond a certain point, the picture changes. Traffic locks up, communications fail and safety risks grow. At that moment, it stops being a festival and becomes a hazard. That raises the question of responsibility. When such situations occur, criticism often focuses on city management. Public authorities matter; police and local governments must control crowds and secure safety. But the starting point should be clear. The city did not create the demand; companies did, by planning events and rewards. The social costs that follow should also be shared by companies to some degree. In the current structure, companies take the gains while cities and residents bear congestion and risk. As content grows more influential, the imbalance could worsen. Companies, the argument goes, should not stop at attracting crowds; they should design responsibly, including capacity limits, dispersing routes and safety management. Such episodes are likely to become more frequent and larger. Content is getting stronger, social media spreads faster and people move more easily. A single event changing a city’s flow is no longer an exception. It reflects a shift in industrial structure, not just culture. What happened in Seongsu-dong leaves a question: Is it merely popularity, or a new structure that must be managed? Content is already moving the real world, and its influence is growing. In the end, what was on display was not just Pokemon. It was a system: content gathers people, people reshape space, and the result can shake a city’s functioning. If that system is not understood, the same scenes will repeat. Seongsu-dong stopped for a simple reason: too many people arrived. More precisely, they arrived because the event was designed to bring them there.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-05-02 12:29:13

Why Pluto’s Planet Status Debate Still Resonates in U.S. Politics Pluto’s long-running status fight has moved well beyond astronomy. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union redefined what counts as a planet and reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet. The decision followed scientific criteria, yet the argument keeps returning in ways that science alone does not explain. National memory and identity have helped keep Pluto at the center of public debate. Pluto was discovered in 1930 by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh. For many Americans, that fact carried meaning beyond a line in a scientific record: Pluto was remembered as the only planet discovered by an American, a symbolic U.S. achievement in space. With Europe long dominant in astronomy, the discovery became a source of national pride, and Pluto came to be seen as part of “a world the United States discovered.” Against that backdrop, the IAU’s 2006 decision triggered an especially emotional reaction in the United States. The change was about scientific standards, but many people felt “our discovery” had been downgraded by outside rules. The IAU did not target any country, but when scientific judgments collide with public sentiment, the debate can take on a different meaning. Over time, those feelings began to merge with political language. Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again,” or MAGA, became more than a campaign slogan, shaping a broader mood about restoring a past order. The phrase works less as a detailed policy program than as an appeal to emotion, mixing anxiety about lost standing with a desire to reclaim it. Pluto has increasingly been pulled into that frame. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman recently used the phrase “Make Pluto a Planet Again,” linking the dispute to political symbolism rather than a neutral scientific review. The wording echoes MAGA, recasting Pluto as something to be “taken back.” Arguments for restoring Pluto’s planet status are not necessarily unscientific. Debate over how to define a planet continues within the scientific community. Some researchers argue that instead of an orbit-centered definition, classification should be based on geological features and internal structure. Under that approach, Pluto could be considered a planet again. Reducing the issue to emotion or politics alone does not reflect the full scientific discussion. Still, the way the dispute reaches the public is different. For many people, Pluto is not a technical category but the “ninth planet” they learned about in school. That memory is part of how they organize their understanding of the solar system. A nine-planet model is easy to grasp and feels like a stable order. Scientists, however, did not remove Pluto to make the world more complicated. They acted to manage complexity. As more Pluto-like objects were found in the outer solar system, keeping the old standard could have expanded the number of planets into the dozens. The definition was reset to prevent that outcome. In that sense, science was not embracing complexity so much as trying to preserve a workable system through a new kind of simplification. That helps explain the clash: the public’s nine-planet memory and the scientific classification system represent different simplification strategies. One favors recall and familiarity; the other favors theoretical consistency. Pluto’s controversy grows where those approaches collide. It is not appropriate to treat the Pluto dispute as a case of science denial. Unlike climate change or vaccines, Pluto’s status is not a fight over objective facts but over classification standards. But the debate does highlight a pattern: when scientific arguments are translated into political language, complexity can vanish, leaving only a simple message. “Make Pluto a Planet Again” may be an effective slogan, but it can also flatten the issue and pull it into the realm of emotion. Science is typically slow and complex; political language is fast and intuitive. Where the two meet, the risk of distortion is always present. In the end, the question raised by Pluto’s status is straightforward: Do people try to understand the world as it is, or reshape it into something easier to grasp? The issue is not limited to astronomy. Similar tensions appear across technology, economics and politics. Pluto still circles the outer solar system. Its orbit and physical properties have not changed. What has changed is the standard used to describe it, and the interpretation attached to that standard. Those judgments are shaped not only by data but also by social context, emotion and, at times, political language. Whether Pluto is called a planet again may not be the most important point. Why the question keeps returning is not trivial. Understanding that helps clarify how science, society and human perception intertwine. The Pluto debate, in that sense, is not only about a small celestial body. It is also about discovery, definition and ownership: Who discovered something, who sets the rules, and who accepts them. The same structure appears in today’s global disputes, from semiconductor rules and artificial intelligence ethics to energy supply chains. From far away, Pluto continues to pose a basic question: What do people want to reclaim, and where does that desire come from? As long as that question remains, Pluto is likely to keep returning to public attention. 2026-05-02 12:27:18

Soaring fuel surcharges push up overseas travel costs amid Iran war SEOUL, May 02 (AJP) - International airfare costs are set to rise sharply this month as higher oil prices driven by the U.S.-Iran war push fuel surcharges to a record level, adding pressure on travelers and forcing airlines to cut more flights. Tickets issued from May 1 are subject to the highest fuel surcharge level of 33, which applies when jet fuel prices exceed 470 cents per gallon, according to the airline industry. The benchmark Singapore jet fuel price, known as MOPS, reached 511.21 cents per gallon, marking the first time the top level has been applied since the current system was introduced in 2016. The surcharge jumped 15 levels from April. Fuel surcharges are additional fees airlines impose on top of fares to offset losses from rising oil prices. Airlines set their own surcharge amounts based on the monthly surcharge level. Korean Air set its May international fuel surcharge at 150,000 won to 1.128 million won ($765) for round-trip tickets, depending on distance. For the longest routes, the surcharge is nearly five times higher than the 231,000 won charged in January and about double last month’s level. Asiana Airlines will charge between 170,800 won and 952,400 won for round-trip international tickets. Jeju Air, the country’s largest low-cost carrier, will impose fuel surcharges of $52 to $126 for one-way tickets. The sharp increase is expected to weigh heavily on consumers already facing higher travel costs. Airlines are also struggling to offset rising expenses through fuel surcharges alone, prompting some carriers to reduce flights. Asiana Airlines had initially planned to cut eight flights on three international routes this month but later expanded the reduction to 13 flights. Jin Air, which suspended eight routes last month, will halt operations on 14 routes this month. Air Premia plans to cancel 22 flights in July. Korean Air has not yet decided whether to suspend flights but is closely monitoring the situation, according to industry officials. In some countries, including Vietnam, airlines are reportedly facing difficulties securing jet fuel supplies. “There are growing concerns that overseas travel demand, which had been recovering, could weaken again,” an airline industry official said. The surge in international fuel surcharges is also shifting travel demand toward domestic destinations. According to travel and accommodation platform Yeogi Eottae, overseas accommodation bookings from April 1 to 23 fell to 75 percent of the level recorded in February, before the Middle East war began. Domestic accommodation bookings, by contrast, rose to 107 percent of the February level. The trend suggests that more travelers are turning to domestic trips as overseas travel becomes more expensive. Domestic hotels and resorts are also seeing stronger demand. Hanwha Resorts said its average occupancy rate in April rose by 8 percentage points from a year earlier. Reservations for major locations, including Haeundae and Gyeongju, have already topped 80 percent this month, surpassing last year’s actual occupancy rates. 2026-05-02 12:10:04

Yang Hyang-ja Picked as People Power Party’s Gyeonggi Governor Candidate Yang Hyang-ja, a top official of the People Power Party, has been selected as the party’s candidate for Gyeonggi governor in the June 3 local elections. According to Yonhap News Agency and the party’s central nomination committee on Friday, Yang secured the nomination based on a combined tally of a two-day vote by party members (50%) and a public opinion poll of the general electorate (50%). In a news conference immediately after the primary result was announced, Yang said she would “end the era of outdated ideology and open an era of future high-tech industries,” adding that she would take on a “bold challenge” toward “a new conservative party and a future Gyeonggi.” She said she would focus “only on the economy and people’s livelihoods, beyond ideology and camps,” and pledged to work with “reasonable residents” rather than “extreme supporters” of the two major parties to turn the race into an “economic election,” shifting it from “an election that asks about the past” to one that “discusses the future.” Yang emphasized that she would run on boosting income for Gyeonggi’s 14 million residents, fostering advanced industries tailored to each of the province’s 31 cities and counties, and expanding high-paying youth jobs with annual salaries of 100 million won. Yang will face Democratic Party candidate Choo Mi-ae in the election. Yang entered politics in 2016 after being recruited as outside talent when Moon Jae-in was serving as leader of the Democratic Party. She drew attention for her background as a high school graduate who became a managing director at Samsung Electronics. That year, she became an ex officio member of the party’s top leadership after defeating Yoo Eun-hye in a race for chair of the party’s national women’s committee. From 2018 to July 2019, she served as head of the National Human Resources Development Institute, a government official post. At Samsung Electronics, she joined in 1985 as a research assistant in a semiconductor memory design lab and was promoted to managing director in 2014, setting a record as the first female executive from a high school graduate background. In politics, she has been active as a semiconductor industry expert. With Yang’s nomination in Gyeonggi, the People Power Party has completed nominations for the 16 provincial and metropolitan governor races, the party said.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-05-02 11:18:17

Trump's Germany troop cut, EU tariff hike fuel concerns in Seoul SEOUL, May 02 (AJP) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw thousands of troops from Germany and raise tariffs on EU vehicles starting next week is raising concerns in Seoul over whether Washington could use similar pressure against South Korea. The moves come amid growing tensions between the U.S. and its allies over their response to the Iran war. The Pentagon said Friday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had ordered the withdrawal of about 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany, with the drawdown expected to be completed over the next six to 12 months. Germany hosts around 35,000 U.S. troops, the second-largest overseas U.S. military presence after Japan. It is also home to the headquarters of U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command, making it a key pillar of European security since the end of World War II. The Pentagon’s announcement came four days after Trump said on Truth Social that his administration was “studying and reviewing the possible reduction of troops in Germany," and would make a decision soon. The move is widely seen as having been triggered by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s remarks on April 27 that the United States had been "humiliated" by Iran and that the war was unlikely to end easily. Trump also said on Truth Social, “Based on the fact the European Union is not complying with our fully agreed to Trade Deal, next week I will be increasing tariffs charged to the European Union for Cars and Trucks coming into the United States.” Under last year’s U.S.-EU trade agreement, Washington agreed to lower tariffs on EU-made passenger cars and trucks from 25 percent to 15 percent. Trump’s latest announcement would restore the rate to its previous level. The sudden tariff move is being interpreted as another sign of Trump’s frustration with key NATO allies, many of which have effectively rejected Washington’s requests for military support in the Iran war. Trump has repeatedly complained that European allies are not doing enough, particularly in relation to efforts to secure the Strait of Hormuz. Trump has also voiced frustration with Indo-Pacific partners, including South Korea, Japan and Australia, which have been reluctant to send forces to the Strait of Hormuz. About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea. Since Trump returned to office, Seoul and Washington have been holding talks on what they call “alliance modernization,” which centers on readjusting the role and responsibilities of U.S. Forces Korea. After Trump floated the possibility of reducing U.S. troops in Germany, South Korea’s defense ministry sought to draw a line, saying there had been “no discussions at all” between Seoul and Washington on a reduction of USFK. Still, concerns remain as several major agreements reached at last year’s South Korea-U.S. summit have been slow to move forward. At the center of the issue is Seoul’s $350 billion investment pledge in the U.S., which was linked to Washington’s agreement to lower tariffs on Korean goods and support key security-related initiatives, including South Korea’s pursuit of nuclear-powered submarines for peaceful purposes. The Trump administration’s focus on the Iran war has limited Washington’s bandwidth for detailed consultations with Seoul. But diplomatic sources say the bigger reason behind delays in follow-up security talks appears to be Washington’s dissatisfaction with the pace of South Korea’s promised investment package. The U.S. has repeatedly urged Seoul to move faster in selecting and implementing investment projects. Japan’s announcement of its first and second U.S. investment projects in February and March has added pressure on the South Korean government. South Korea has moved to speed up preparations since Trump threatened in January to restore tariffs on Korean automobiles and other goods to 25 percent over delays in the investment agreement. The National Assembly passed a special law to support the package, and the government has continued talks with Washington over potential projects. But Seoul has yet to announce its first investment plan, taking a cautious approach given the size of the commitment and the need to ensure commercial viability. Trump’s latest moves against Germany and the EU have heightened concerns in Seoul that Washington may use trade and security leverage more aggressively in dealing with allies. Even if a reduction of U.S. troops in South Korea is not currently under discussion, Seoul may find it difficult to rule out renewed pressure if investment commitments continue to lag. 2026-05-02 11:00:28

South Korea Gasoline, Diesel Prices Stay Above 2,000 Won a Liter; Seoul at 2,048 South Korean gasoline and diesel prices at gas stations continued to hover in the 2,000-won range on a weekly basis. Data from Yonhap News Agency and the Korea National Oil Corp.’s Opinet system showed that in the fifth week of April (April 26-30), the nationwide average retail price of gasoline rose 4.8 won from the previous week to 2,008.6 won per liter. By region, Seoul posted the highest price at 2,048 won per liter, up 8.7 won from a week earlier. Daegu was the lowest at 1,993.6 won, up 4.7 won. The recent rise in international oil prices was attributed to stalled ceasefire talks between the U.S. Donald Trump administration and Iran. A persistently weak won has added to upward pressure on domestic fuel prices. Domestic fuel prices are influenced not only by global crude prices but also by the exchange rate. In March, Dubai crude jumped 87.9% from the previous month, while the won-dollar exchange rate rose 2.6%, pushing import prices up 16.1% from a month earlier — the highest level in about 28 years since January 1998. A higher exchange rate raises the won-denominated cost of crude, which is traded in dollars. Over the same period, the won-based crude price hit a record since data collection began, while jet fuel and naphtha prices rose 67.1% and 46.1%, respectively. Analysts have warned that the combined rise in oil prices and the exchange rate could spread across broader inflation. With the consumer inflation rate in April 2026 in the mid-to-high 2% range, some forecasts say it could climb to around 3% in May if the high exchange-rate trend persists, potentially weakening households’ real purchasing power and adding to living-cost burdens. 2026-05-02 10:27:16