[Special Economy=Eunji Kim]With the Korean government's plan to uplift consumer confidence no longer being implemented, the CCSI (Composite Consumer Sentiment Index) has taken a turn downwards—in six months.

Consequently, the fear of dismal consumers in Korea is rising; last Thursday, the Bank of Korea reported its December consumer trend survey result, and CCSI declined three points from last month, recording at 103 points.

If the CCSI has points higher than 100, that means the consumers' subjective expectation for the economy is positive, thus encouraging buying. If it's lower than 100, it is the other way around.

Although the recent CCSI is at 103 points, there is still less enthusiasm in consumers, and this is just the start in the possible downward trend forecasted by analysts.

The low consumer confidence shown after last May's MERS outbreak has improved over the months but again, that can change, as the U.S. raised interest rate's bearish factors come into play.

Last June, CCSI slumped to 99 points—the lowest level since September 2012. With this in mind, the government pursued various economic stimulation policies, such as encouraging grand sales at department stores.

For example, from last August to October, department stores partook in "Korea Grand Sale", from then on, "Korea Black Friday," and "K-Sale Day" occurred.

The result was effective: CCSI in July rose to 100 points, 102 points in August, 103 points in September, 105 points in October, 106 points in November, steadily increasing for five consecutive months.

But, the problem is these stimulation policies did not provide a "fundamental solution" to combat the low consumer confidence. Also, because the Federal Reserve Board recently decided to raise its interest rate, the Bank of Korea received a dilemma of whether to do the same, further tightening consumers' wallets.

Looking at this survey, next year's economic growth outlook is not optimistic; the government previously signaled for consumer confidence recovery but question remains if that can be achieved.

However, the government and the Bank of Korea say consumer confidence is "shrinking," as to them, it has not yet "plummeted," still having hope that there could be more upbeat consumers on the way.