A series of typhoons that hit the nation last week have already driven up food prices and there are worries about further price hikes around Chuseok, or Korean Thanksgiving, which falls at the end of the month.

According to the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on Sunday, some 44,000 hectares of farmland and over 18 hectares of orchards were damaged by the typhoons.

The price of chives doubled last week, while the price of lettuce has jumped more than 9-fold in the past two months.

Although fruit prices have generally remained steady despite the damage, the price of apples and pears are expected to surge as these farms were hit especially hard, and demand is likely to grow ahead of Chuseok.