Donghaeng Lottery

What the Donghaeng Lottery is

Donghaeng Lottery Co. (동행복권(주)) is the company that runs South Korea's national lottery. It is the body behind the games most people in Korea mean when they talk about "the lottery": the big draw games such as Lotto 6/45 and Pension Lottery 720+, instant scratch tickets such as Speetto, and electronic lottery products sold online¹.

The lottery is a state-backed operation, and its proceeds flow into public funds rather than private hands. For a player, what matters is that there is one official sales channel: retail outlets for printed and online tickets, and the official electronic lottery sales site, www.dhlottery.co.kr, for electronic tickets¹. Anything calling itself a Korean lottery site other than the official one is not part of this system.

The word "online" in the Korean system can be confusing. The "online lottery" (온라인복권) is the printed-number draw game you buy at a shop counter, where the terminal prints your numbers. The "electronic lottery" (전자복권) is the one you buy on the website. They are different products with different draws and different claim rules, and the distinction runs through everything from broadcast times to how you collect a prize¹.

The different kinds of Donghaeng tickets

Donghaeng sells several families of ticket, and the family determines where you buy it, when it draws and how you claim. Here is how they line up:

Some products pay annuity prizes (연금식 당첨금), meaning the win is paid in installments rather than one lump sum. These are claimed through Donghaeng Lottery Co. itself, with payment starting from the 20th of the month after the win¹.

How to buy a ticket

For printed and online tickets, go to a retail sales outlet. Convenience store counters and dedicated lottery shops across the country sell them, and the official website has an outlet finder so you can locate the nearest one¹. You pick your numbers or take a quick pick, the terminal prints the ticket, and you keep it. The ticket is your claim document, so treat it like cash.

For electronic lottery tickets, buy on the official electronic lottery sales site at www.dhlottery.co.kr¹. This is the only official online channel. The site is in Korean, and purchases are tied to the Korean sales system, so plan accordingly if you do not read Korean.

A few practical points for a first purchase:

• Ask for the game by name if you want a specific one; counters sell several products side by side¹.
• Check the draw schedule before you buy, because the online lottery and the combined printed and electronic lottery draw on different days¹.
• Keep the ticket somewhere safe. Large prizes require the physical ticket or the verified electronic record, and identity checks at Donghaeng Lottery Co.¹.

Who can play: residents and visitors

The official guidance on buying tickets does not set out a residency test: tickets are sold at outlets to whoever walks up, and on the official site to whoever can complete a purchase there¹. In practice, the whole system is in Korean and rooted in Korea: the outlet network, the website, the MBC broadcasts and the claim process all assume you are in the country.

For context on the wider picture: South Korea takes a strict line on gambling generally. Real-money betting is not allowed, and casino games and bingo are usually prohibited on the grounds of their speculative nature; Korean residents are barred from licensed casinos except for the one facility permitted under the Gangwon Province exception². The national lottery is the mainstream, fully legal exception to that picture, sold openly at convenience stores. If you are weighing what else you can do in the country, see our page on gambling in South Korea.

Draw schedule and how the draw works

There are two broadcast slots to know:

• Online lottery: the draw is broadcast on MBC at around 20:45 on Saturday evenings¹.
• Printed and electronic combined lottery: the draw is broadcast on MBC at around 19:05 on Thursdays¹.

The draws are televised, so you can watch the numbers come out live if you are in front of a television with MBC. If you miss the broadcast, winning numbers are published on the official website, www.dhlottery.co.kr, so checking results online is the usual route¹.

Instant tickets do not have a draw at all. You scratch and see the result on the spot, which is why their claim period runs from the end of the sales period rather than from any draw date¹.

Prize tiers and how winnings are paid

Prize structures vary by game, and the big draw games each have their own tier tables. The headline games are covered in detail on their own pages: Lotto 6/45 for the main number-draw game and Pension Lottery 720+ for the annuity product.

What the official guidance sets out is not the tier table but the payment machinery, which depends on the size of the win and the type of ticket:

• Electronic lottery prizes: you complete identity verification, then visit Donghaeng Lottery Co. in person, confirm your identity and withdraw the prize¹.
• Printed or combined lottery prizes: your win is verified at Donghaeng Lottery Co., and payment is made at a designated NH Nonghyup Bank branch¹.
• Annuity prizes: identity is verified at Donghaeng Lottery Co., and payments start from the 20th of the month following the win¹.

Smaller prizes are handled through the ordinary retail and online channels, which is why most winners never deal with the head office at all. The pattern to remember is that the bigger the win, the more of the process moves to Donghaeng Lottery Co. and identity verification.

Claiming a prize: deadlines and where to go

The claim window is one year, but the clock starts at different points depending on the ticket:

• Draw-type tickets (online, printed, electronic, and printed and electronic combined): one year from the date payment starts¹.
• Instant printed and instant electronic tickets: one year from the end of the sales period¹.

Miss the window and the claim expires. The deadline is set in the Lottery and Lottery Fund Act, and it is applied as written¹.

For comparison, if you play lotteries elsewhere in Asia, the windows differ a lot, so do not assume the Korean rule travels. In China, Super Lotto winners have just 60 natural days from the draw date, and forfeited prizes go to the lottery public welfare fund³. In Thailand, government lottery winners have two years from the draw date before the money passes to state revenue⁴. Nagaland State Lotteries in India require claims within 30 days of the draw⁵, and Maharashtra State Lottery gives 90 days⁶. Korea's one-year window is generous by regional standards, but the in-person requirement for large prizes means you cannot leave it to the last minute if you have to travel to Seoul.

Taxes on lottery winnings

Korean lottery winnings above a threshold are taxed at source, and the tax comes out before you are paid. The brackets are:

The withholding happens at payment, which is one reason large prizes are routed through Donghaeng Lottery Co. and the bank: the paperwork is done as the money moves¹. For reference, winnings over KRW 2,000,000 and up to KRW 300,000,000 are taxed at 22%, made up of 20% income tax plus 2% resident tax¹.

Again, for regional context, the rates are not the same elsewhere. In China, lottery winnings are taxed at a flat 20% as incidental income, with single winnings of up to CNY 10,000 exempt⁷. In Thailand, government lottery winnings carry stamp duty of 1 baht for every 200 baht of prize money, or fraction of 200 baht⁸. Korea's 22% and 33% brackets sit at the higher end, so factor them in when you imagine a headline prize.

Playing from abroad: what the rules allow

The official purchase channels are all in Korea: retail outlets for printed and online tickets, and the Korean-language official site for electronic tickets¹. There is no official channel for buying Donghaeng tickets from outside the country, and no agent network abroad.

The claim process reinforces this. Larger prizes on electronic tickets, and on printed and combined tickets, require an in-person visit to Donghaeng Lottery Co. for identity verification¹. A winner who is overseas when the draw happens will need to come back to Korea, or arrange the visit, within the one-year claim window.

One caution for anyone tempted to look elsewhere online: real-money betting is not allowed in South Korea, and the national lottery is the licensed exception². Sites offering Korean lottery play from outside the official system are not part of Donghaeng, and playing on them carries real risk. If you want the lottery while in Korea, buy at a counter or on www.dhlottery.co.kr, keep your ticket, and watch MBC on Saturday night.