Winner of W500m scratch ticket: 'I felt calmer than expected'

A person who swapped their usual weekly lottery ticket for a scratch ticket on a whim walked away with 500 million won ($373,000).

According to Dong Haeng Lottery, the first-prize winner of the 110th showing of Speetto 1000 was sold at a lottery shop on Baengnyangdae-ro in Sasang-gu, Busan, last month.

The winner, identified only as A, told Dong Haeng Lottery in an interview that they had been buying lottery tickets every week out of habit. "One day I went to a lottery shop to buy a lotto ticket, but the Speetto caught my eye in particular that day, so I bought a Speetto 1000 instead," A said.

"The next day, after getting home, I remembered the Speetto I had bought on Tuesday and checked on my own whether I had won. Completely out of nowhere, it turned out to be a first-prize win," A said.

"I had sometimes imagined what it would feel like if a stroke of luck like this came my way, but when it comes down to it, winning first prize left me feeling calmer than I expected," A said.

A said the news was shared with a spouse, who reacted with equal composure. "I'm happy that such great luck has come our way, but rather than getting too excited, I want to keep living quietly and normally, just as before," A said.

A plans to use part of the winnings to pay off a loan and put the rest toward living expenses.

Meanwhile, Speetto 1000 is a scratch ticket in which players win a prize by matching any of six numbers to a lucky number. Each ticket costs 1,000 won, and the top prize is 500 million won.