"Almost Missed 1 Billion"… Lotto 1st Prize Winner Claimed Ticket 20 Days Before Expiry

Lotto Draw 1085 First Prize Purchased at Busan Sasang-gu Retailer

Photo of a lottery ticket sales store unrelated to the article content

A lottery jackpot winner who had not appeared to claim the prize as the one-year deadline approached has recently come forward to collect the winnings. The winner was found just 20 days before the payment deadline on September 19.

According to the lottery operator Donghaeng Lottery on the 5th, one first-place winner from the 1085th Lotto draw held on September 16 last year recently claimed the uncollected prize money of 1,073,274,473 KRW. Earlier, Donghaeng Lottery posted a notice on its website on July 31 urging winners of the 1085th draw to claim their prizes.

The winning numbers for that draw were ‘4, 7, 17, 18, 38, 44,’ and there were 23 (or 21) lucky winners who matched all six numbers. Fourteen of them won through automatic selection, while the remaining eight (or six) and one winner matched all six numbers through manual and semi-automatic selections, respectively. The unclaimed first-place winner reportedly purchased the ticket automatically at a lottery retailer in Sasang-gu, Busan.

Lotto first-place prizes must be claimed within one year from the start of the payment period. Unclaimed winnings after the deadline are fully transferred to the Lottery Fund according to the Lottery and Lottery Fund Act, and are used for various public interest projects such as welfare for low-income vulnerable groups, housing stability, scholarship programs, and cultural and arts promotion funds.

Donghaeng Lottery stated that it is common for people to buy lottery tickets for a week of small excitement but then forget about them due to busy daily lives. They urged winners to keep their tickets in a visible place and to double-check tickets even after the draw date has passed.