A worker removes signs promoting the 2022 Korea Sale Festa in the shopping district of Myeongdong in Seoul, Oct. 31. Yonhap

The largest-ever annual shopping event in Korea kicked off on Tuesday amid efforts to boost private spending, the industry ministry said Tuesday.

The Korea Sale Festa, the Korean equivalent of Black Friday, will be held both online and in stores nationwide through Nov. 15, with around 2,300 companies participating, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The figure is the largest ever since the festival was launched in 2016, it added.

Major discount chains and department stores will offer bargains on fashion, food and other items, and provide various opportunities for small manufacturers and regional specialty producers to promote their products.

The government also provided beef and fisheries products at lower prices to help stabilize the prices, according to the ministry.

But companies and local governments canceled various events and regional festivals that they had planned to mark the fest, as Korea mourns the deaths of 155 people in last week's crowd crush in Seoul's Itaewon district. The incident also injured 152 others.

"This year's event focuses on stabilizing consumer prices and supporting the recovery of consumer sentiment, as the country is facing high prices and other difficult situations," the ministry said in a release.

Korea's consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, rose 5.6 percent on-year in September. The Bank of Korea forecast inflation could stay in the 5-6 percent range for a considerable period of time. (Yonhap)