Reasonably priced goods like Korean beef will be popular for this year's Lunar New Year amid the ongoing global recession. The price of Korean beef plummeted by 10 to 20 percent from a year ago in the aftermath of foot and mouth disease.

Supermarket chain E-Mart on Sunday said pre-order sales of Lunar New Year's gift items from Dec. 27, 2011 to Jan. 4 increased by 54.4 percent from a year ago. Korean beef saw a 538 percent increase and yellow corbina under W100,000 some 210 percent rise.

On the other hand, sales of this year's exceptionally expensive fruit grew only 28.1 percent.