Home > Business > Finance

It's a gamble: Korea to introduce mobile lottery ticket purchases

Published: 06 Feb. 2026, 16:01

A sign advertising winning the first prize in front of a lottery store known for as a lottery hotspot in Jongno District, central Seoul. [YONHAP]

Buying lottery tickets will soon be possible on smartphones in Korea, and the revenue distribution system for lottery proceeds will undergo its first major overhaul in 20 years.

The Korea Lottery Commission said Friday that it has reviewed and approved measures, including a revamp of the statutory distribution system for the Lottery Fund.

Starting Monday, the mobile sales service for Lotto tickets will enter a pilot phase in the first half of the year. Until now, Lotto tickets could be purchased only at offline retailers or via the website, but they will now be available through the DongHang Lottery mobile site.

Mobile purchases will be allowed only on weekdays, and the per-person spending limit per draw will remain 5,000 won ($3), the same as for purchases on the computer. Total online sales — including both the computer and mobile — will be capped at 5 percent of the previous year’s total Lotto sales. Once the weekly cap is reached, sales will be suspended. While the same cap has applied to sales from purchases via computer, only about 2.8 percent of the limit was actually used due to limited accessibility.

Allowing mobile purchases could raise concerns about excessive lottery participation. However, the government said such risks are unlikely to be significant, as all online purchases require real-name registration, making spending limits easier to manage. In addition, the online purchase cap is lower than the 100,000-won limit for offline purchases.

The government also plans to change how lottery proceeds are distributed. Under the current Lottery Act, enacted in 2004, 35 percent of lottery revenue must be allocated to 10 institutions and funds — including in the science, technology and sports promotion sector — to compensate former lottery issuers from before the system was unified.

People stand in a queue to buy lottery tickets in Seoul. [NEWS1]

Critics have argued that the fixed distribution ratio, unchanged for more than two decades, fails to reflect changing fiscal needs and leads to inefficiencies by distributing funds regardless of project performance. In some cases, recipient institutions have failed to spend allocated funds on time, accumulated unused money or diverted it to purposes unrelated to their original mandates, such as support for marginalized groups.

To address this, the government plans to revise the Lottery Act to loosen the statutory distribution requirement from a “fixed” 35 percent of lottery proceeds to “within” 35 percent, allowing for more flexible adjustments depending on fiscal conditions.

The range for performance-based adjustments will also be expanded from 20 percent to 40 percent. The goal is to improve efficiency by differentiating funding levels based on how effectively lottery funds are used. Any remaining funds created through these adjustments will be directed toward support for vulnerable groups.

In addition, a sunset clause will be introduced to the statutory distribution system to prevent habitual funding and allow support to be prioritized by project importance. After the sunset period, some programs may be converted into public-interest projects. The government plans to submit a bill reflecting these changes to the National Assembly in the first half of the year.

Korea’s lottery market has continued to grow steadily. Annual lottery sales rose from 3.5 trillion won in 2004 to 7.7 trillion won last year, and are expected to exceed 8 trillion won this year. Over the same period, the Lottery Fund increased 3.5-fold, from 900 billion won to 3.2 trillion won.

“This reform will significantly contribute to reshaping lottery culture as an easy way to share and donate in everyday life, while also strengthening welfare for the underprivileged by improving the sense of benefit and convenience of lottery purchases,” said Lim Ki-geun, acting minister of planning and budget.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY AHN HYO-SEONG [[email protected]]