The South Korean lottery dates back to 1948, when the country was looking for a way to help raise funds for athletes heading to the Summer Olympics.
Lotto/6/45 began in December 2002, and the Korean Lottery Commission was formed two years later in 2004, leading to even support for good causes across the country.
A Pension Lottery, known as 520, or Bok-Kwon or Bok Won, was launched in July 2011. After an initial period of success, ticket sales later dipped, prompting the game to be rebranded as the Pension Lottery 720 in May 2020. Find out more about games in South Korea below.
It's easy to play the Pension Lottery. You can take part online in South Korea or by visiting an authorised convenience store or kiosk in the country.
You can buy as many tickets as you want, at a cost of KRW 1,000 each, although there is a spending limit of KRW 100,000 at a time and KRW 150,000 per day. Draws take place every Thursday night at 7:05 pm Korea Standard Time.
Each ticket contains a six-digit number from 000000-999999. The tickets are sold in five different groups from stores, which means the same number (for example 123456) will be on a total of five different tickets if they are all sold out, but each one will have a different group number (from 1 to 5).
The tickets are also sold in five groups online, so there will be one online ticket and one paper ticket which are exactly the same (for example - group 1 and the number 123456).
To win the top prize, you must match the winning group number and the winning six-digit number. The prize is KRW 7 million every month for 20 years.
You can also win smaller amounts for matching part of the winning six-digit code. A second winning number - the Bonus number - is also drawn to give you another chance to win big. The table below shows all the different ways to win.
| Prize Category | How to Win | Prize Amount | Number of Prizes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Match the group number and the winning six-digit number (for example 1 - 123456) | KRW 7 million a month for 20 years | 2 |
| 2 | Match the winning six-digit number (e.g. 123456) | KRW 1 million a month for 10 years | 8 |
| 3 | Match the last five digits of the winning number (e.g. X23456) | KRW 1 million | 53 |
| 4 | Match the last four digits of the winning number (e.g. XX3456) | KRW 100,000 | 507 |
| 5 | Match the last three digits of the winning number (e.g. XXX456) | KRW 50,000 | 4,937 |
| 6 | Match the last two digits of the winning number (e.g. XXXX56) | KRW 5,000 | 47,127 |
| 7 | Match the last digit of the winning number (e.g. XXXXX6) | KRW 1,000 | 507,749 |
| Bonus | Match the six-digit number that is drawn as the winning Bonus code | KRW 1 million a month for 10 years | 10 |
You can play Lotto 6/45 from newsstands, convenience stores or other authorised shops in South Korea. As the name of the game suggests, you just have to pick six numbers from 1 to 45 to take part. Draws take place every Saturday night.
You need to match all six numbers to win the jackpot, but you can also win for matching three or more numbers. The top prize can roll over to the next draw if it is not won, but only twice. It will be paid out to other winners if there are still no tickets that match all six numbers in the third draw.
See the table below to find out all the different ways to win.
| Numbers Matched | Odds of Winning | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | 1 in 8,145,060 | 75% of prize pool* |
| 5 + Bonus Ball | 1 in 1,357,510 | 12.5% of prize pool* |
| 5 | 1 in 35,724 | 12.5% of prize pool* |
| 4 | 1 in 733 | KRW 50,000 |
| 3 | 1 in 45 | KRW 5,000 |
*The prizes for the Match 3 and Match 4 winners are paid out before the rest of the prize fund is allocated according to the percentages above.
Winnings are taxed at 22 percent in South Korea. If you win a prize, you have one year to come forward and claim it.