'I won't leave my kids with debt': Breadwinner burdened by loans wins W500m lottery jackpot

A lottery winner who had been struggling under the weight of loan repayments has shared the story of how a scratch ticket changed his life — netting him 500 million won ($371,000).

The story of the first-prize winner of the 109th showing of "Speetto 1000," a scratch-card lottery, was recently featured on the official website of Donhaeng Bokgwon, the state-designated lottery operator.

The winner, identified only as A, had consistently bought lottery and scratch tickets every week. Rather than checking them immediately, he had a habit of setting them aside and checking several at once whenever he happened to think of them.

One morning last weekend, A suddenly remembered the tickets he had been stockpiling. As he went through them one by one, he discovered he had hit the Speetto 1000 jackpot.

"I couldn't believe such incredible luck had come my way — I felt dazed, as if I were dreaming," A said. "The moment I confirmed I had won, my children were the first thing that came to mind."

"The burden of my loans had been weighing on me heavily, but if I use the prize money to pay them off, I'll at least be able to avoid passing that debt on to my children — and that has lifted a great weight off my shoulders," he said. "I'm grateful that this will give me a little more breathing room in my daily life and let me look forward to a more comfortable old age."

He added, "I'm thankful that even an ordinary person like me can have this kind of luck. To everyone out there — no matter how hard things get, hold on to hope and keep going."

Meanwhile, Speetto 1000 is a printed instant-win scratch card in which players win a prize if any of six numbers on the ticket matches a designated lucky number. The first-prize payout is 500 million won.