Korea’s Pension Lottery 720+: Odds, Tax, and Claim Rules

KRW 7 million a month is an installment prize, not a lump sum

One Pension Lottery 720+ game costs KRW 1,000. A player selects one of five groups and a six-digit number from 000000 to 999999. The top prize requires the group plus all six digits to match. It pays KRW 7 million a month for 20 years, or 240 payments. The advertised pre-tax total is KRW 1.68 billion, but there is no lump-sum option in the published prize structure.

Second prize matches the six digits but uses one of the four groups that did not win first prize. It pays KRW 1 million a month for ten years, or 120 payments. A separately drawn six-digit bonus prize pays the same monthly amount for ten years. Third through seventh prizes are one-time payments of KRW 1 million, KRW 100,000, KRW 50,000, KRW 5,000, and KRW 1,000. If one ticket meets more than one rank, only its highest prize is paid.

Where the 1-in-5-million figure comes from

Each sales channel contains five groups and one million six-digit combinations per group: 5 × 1,000,000 = 5,000,000 possible tickets. There is one first-prize combination, so the top-prize probability is 1/5,000,000 per ticket. There are four second-prize combinations—the same six digits in the other four groups—so that probability is 4/5,000,000, or 1/1,250,000.

The lower ranks cover more combinations as fewer trailing digits are required. Donghaeng Lottery gives an overall chance of any listed prize of about 1 in 10. That total includes seventh prize, which simply returns the KRW 1,000 ticket price; it does not mean that buying ten tickets guarantees a profit.

• First: 1/5,000,000 — KRW 7 million monthly for 20 years
• Second: 1/1,250,000 — KRW 1 million monthly for 10 years
• Third: about 1/111,111 — KRW 1 million once
• Fourth: about 1/11,111 — KRW 100,000 once
• Fifth: about 1/1,111 — KRW 50,000 once
• Sixth: about 1/111 — KRW 5,000 once
• Seventh: about 1/11 — KRW 1,000 once
• Bonus: 1/1,000,000 — KRW 1 million monthly for 10 years

Buying all five groups is a five-ticket bundle, not a statistical shortcut

A player can buy the same six digits in all five groups. If those six digits match the main draw, one ticket wins first prize and the other four win second prize. The published pre-tax total is then KRW 2.16 billion: KRW 1.68 billion from first prize plus KRW 480 million from four second prizes. If the six digits match the bonus draw instead, all five tickets can win the bonus prize.

This bundle costs KRW 5,000 because it contains five games. It covers all five groups, so its first-prize group coverage is five times that of one ticket, without improving first-prize odds per won. The bonus draw ignores the group, so a five-ticket set does not make the six-digit bonus match five times more likely; it makes five tickets payable if that one six-digit match occurs. Manual selection, automatic selection, and historical frequency tables do not improve either draw’s odds.

Sales pause on draw day before the Thursday evening broadcast

As checked on July 29, 2026, online sales run around the clock from Friday through Wednesday. On Thursday, online sales are open from midnight to 5 p.m. and again from 10 p.m. to midnight. The draw is broadcast by MBC at about 7:05 p.m. KST each Thursday, although the broadcaster can change the time and physical retailers set their own opening hours.

Lottery sales to anyone under 19 are prohibited. The current maximum is KRW 100,000 per person per transaction at a retailer. Online, the limit is KRW 150,000 per person per day, with a KRW 150,000 combined daily cap across products on the Donghaeng Lottery site. These are ceilings, not recommended budgets. After the draw, use the official result page and compare the printed digits again; a QR scan is only a convenience check.

Printed and online tickets follow different claim routes

For a printed first-, second-, or bonus-prize ticket, Donghaeng Lottery is the claim point and its guide lists the winning ticket, identification, and a copy of the winner’s bankbook as required items. Printed third- and fourth-prize tickets are paid through NH NongHyup Bank branches, while fifth through seventh prizes are paid by lottery retailers. Sign a printed ticket after checking it and protect it from loss, heat, water, and barcode exposure.

For an online annuity prize, the winner completes identity verification, a payment application, and registration of a personal bank account under the site’s purchase and winning history. An annuity prize begins in the month after the claim and is normally paid on the 20th; if that is not a banking day, payment moves to the preceding banking day.

The initial claim must be made within one year of the prize-payment start date, and a printed ticket also shows its deadline. If the final date is not a banking day, the deadline moves to the next banking day. Unclaimed money then goes to the lottery fund. The one-year rule concerns securing the original claim; it does not require a fresh claim for every monthly installment.

Current monthly net examples are about KRW 5.46 million and KRW 780,000

Article 84 of Korea’s Income Tax Act applies the KRW 2 million tax-free threshold to the sum of all installments when a lottery prize is paid over time, not to each monthly transfer. The KRW 1.68 billion first prize and KRW 120 million second or bonus prize therefore both exceed that threshold. The NTS says withholding is calculated as each installment is actually paid; under the current structure, each monthly payment remains in the 22% bracket including local income tax.

That produces illustrative current net payments of about KRW 5.46 million from the KRW 7 million first prize and KRW 780,000 from the KRW 1 million second or bonus prize. Tax law can change during a ten- or twenty-year period, so neither lifetime after-tax total is guaranteed. Giving prize money to relatives or friends can create a separate gift-tax issue; unusual cases should be checked with the NTS or a qualified adviser.

Buy only from an authorized retailer or the official dhlottery.co.kr domain. Treat an unexpected message promising a refund, asking for card details, directing you to install an app, or demanding an advance payment as a warning sign. Never use household-expense or borrowed money. Donghaeng Lottery’s Clean Center offers self-assessment and responsible-play guidance for anyone who repeatedly exceeds a planned money or time limit.