The 57th Spitto 2000 winner poses with a mock prize board. Courtesy of Donghaeng Lottery

The story of how two co-workers won 1 billion won ($750,000) each in the lottery has been revealed, and it's all thanks to one winner encouraging the other to purchase the next ticket.

According to Donghaeng Lottery on Wednesday, the tale was shared by the first prizewinner on the lottery website.

The first prizewinner explained that they often bought lottery tickets with a colleague at a store near their workplace in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, just for fun.

On this occasion, the first prizewinner purchased five tickets of the instant lottery Spitto 2000 and later discovered at work that one of them had won 2,000 won.

"Usually, I exchange small winnings the next day during my commute," the winner said. "But that day, I wanted to exchange it immediately, so I returned to the store with my colleague."

The 57th Spitto lottery ticket / Courtesy of Donghaeng Lottery

The first prizewinner exchanged the 2,000 won ticket for another Spitto 2000 ticket and checked it on the spot, only to find it was the grand prize winner worth 1 billion won.

Shocked, the first prize winner urged the colleague to quickly buy the next ticket, saying, "Spitto 2000 grand prizes are often consecutive numbers. Buy the next one now!"

The colleague did so immediately and also won the 1 billion won grand prize.

The Spitto 2000 lottery offers a first-prize payout of 1 billion won per ticket, with tickets sold in pairs.

If one ticket in a pair wins, the other is also a guaranteed winner, making the total prize for the pair 2 billion won.

When asked about plans for the winnings, the first prizewinner replied, "I plan to pay off my debts and use the rest to purchase a home."

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.