Introduction of Limitless On-line LOTTO

If early, a limitless lotto will be introduced in the end of this year, so lotto market is expected being changed fundamentally.

The Ministry of Construction & Transportation and Kookmin Bank announced on 11th that 7 government authorities decided to the operation plan to sale on-line ‘LOTTO’ together and applied to the Arbitration Committee of Lotto Issuing of Prime Minister to exam.

According operation plan, the LOTTO includes 45 digit numbers on OMR card and the buyer can check six digit numbers among 45 numbers. The LOTTO will be issued every week and buyer receives prize money in accordance his /her strikes.

If a buyer strikes all of 6 numbers, he/she will win the first prize. If there is no first prizewinner for a week, the prize money will be passed to the next week. So if there is no the first prizewinner of 100 million won a week, the amount is added to the next week.

In US there was no the first prizewinner for 17 weeks, and the prize money increased to 360 billion won in the last year.

One unit of LOTTO is 2,000 won and will be sold by 5,000 shops equipped with computer in whole of the country.

For the management, Kookmin Bank, the operation agency, began to the qualification assessment for the sales shops.

Lee In-young, senior officer, forecasted “within f years of the issuing, the market will increase 1 billion won market” and added “if LOTTO operates normally, it will share 50% of the market and Housing Lotto and others will disappear” LOTTO will be issued by 6 government authorities such as the Ministry of Construction & Transportation, Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Science & Technology, Ministry of Government Administration & Home Affairs, Small and Medium Business Administration and Korea Forest Service.

Jae-Seong Hwang jsonhng@donga.com