June 16 (Bloomberg) -- Sales at major South Korean department stores expanded at the slowest pace in three months as frequent rain and cool weather damped demand for summer clothes.

Outlays at the three biggest chains increased 8.7 percent from a year earlier in May, after rising 15.1 percent in April, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said in a statement today.

Discount-store sales rose 2.4 percent from a year earlier after a 4.6 percent gain in April, today’s report said.

--Editors: Ken McCallum, Cherian Thomas

To contact the reporters on this story: Eunkyung Seo in Seoul at eseo3@bloomberg.net;

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Panckhurst at ppanckhurst@bloomberg.net