Photo not related to article. [Getty Images Bank]
Photo not related to article. [Getty Images Bank]

A man who had been struggling financially hit a 2 billion won ($1.49 million) jackpot after visiting his parents' graves during a holiday, lottery operator Dong-haeng Bokgwon announced.

On Tuesday, the operator released an interview with the winner, identified only as A, who claimed the top prize in the 69th showing of the Speetto 2000 scratch lottery. The winning ticket was sold at a lottery retailer in Jungwon-gu, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.

"Until recently, I had been going through financial difficulties, and every week I would buy lotto and Speetto tickets with a small sense of hope," A said. "I didn't check the tickets right away — I would just keep them in my car."

While on a business trip out of town, A suddenly remembered the tickets sitting in his car. That evening, back at his lodgings, he began scratching through the Speetto tickets he had saved up — and found, to his complete surprise, that one was a first-prize winner.

"I was so shocked I couldn't believe it," he said. "Since I had bought the Speetto 2000 as a set and stored the two tickets separately, I thought, 'The other one must be a winner too,' so I quickly scratched the remaining ticket. Sure enough, the other ticket I had bought together also turned out to be a first-prize winner."

He went on to say that he had visited his parents' graves during the recent holiday and vented his frustrations about his financial hardships. "Not long after, this incredible stroke of luck came my way — I couldn't help but think that my parents had heard me and were looking out for me," he said.

"The good fortune arrived just as I was slowly starting to find peace of mind after a difficult stretch, which makes me all the more grateful," A said.

He said he plans to use some of the winnings to pay off debts and will decide what to do with the rest in due course.

Meanwhile, Speetto 2000 is an instant scratch lottery in which a player wins the prize if both lucky symbols in a game match. The first prize for a single ticket is 1 billion won, but the game is sold as a two-ticket set — if both tickets in the set win first prize, the player receives a combined 2 billion won before taxes.


choigo@heraldcorp.com