A man purchases a lottery ticket at a retail store in Seoul, May 30. Yonhap

Will the prize money for the national lottery increase?

As 20 years have passed since Lotto 6/45's ticket price was set at 1,000 won ($0.73) per game, discussions about increasing the payouts are reigniting.

Those calling for an increase claim that even winning the jackpot may not be enough to buy a home in Seoul, diminishing hopes of turning their lives around. Critics believe that the increase would encourage gambling among the general public.

The government, acknowledging that this issue requires social consensus, intends to gather public opinions.

According to sources in the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Wednesday, the Korea Lottery Commission under the ministry plans to collect opinions from experts and other stakeholders regarding the increase in winnings.

This follows a statement made by Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok at a press conference on May 27. He acknowledged the need to consider the increase, describing it as an "issue worth gathering opinions on."

Before reducing the ticket price to 1,000 won from 2,000 won in 2004, the average first prize was 5.4 billion won. After halving the price, the top prize also halved to 2.4 billion won.

Calls for increasing the payouts have been raised consistently. But recently, deepened inflation and rising asset prices have diminished their relative value further.

In December 2012, the jackpot grew to approximately 2.28 billion won, while the average apartment price in Seoul was about 500 million won. In contrast, in December 2022, the jackpot had decreased to about 2.01 billion won, whereas the average apartment price in Seoul had increased to about 1.26 billion won.

If the government opts for the increase, the easiest way might be to raise ticket prices. In 2023, Jung Da-woon, a researcher from Korea Institute of Public Finance, analyzed that the appropriate ticket price is 1,207 won to increase the prize pool sufficiently.

Another option is to reduce or eliminate taxes imposed on winnings. Currently, 22 percent is deducted from jackpot payouts up to 300 million won, and 33 percent is deducted from any amount exceeding 300 million won.

The game format can also be modified to lower the odds of winning. Players now win the jackpot by matching 6 out of 45 numbers in any order. This could be changed by increasing the total number of available numbers or by requiring players to match more numbers.

However, it seems that any changes, regardless of the approach taken, will take a long time to be implemented into actual policy.

Excessive consumption of lottery tickets can foster gambling tendencies in society and diminish work motivation, making it undesirable for the government to encourage it.

"The intention is to gather opinions from all sectors of society first," an official from the finance ministry said.