Critic: It’s “a tax on the poor”
The South Korean Ministry of Strategy and Finance has agreed to an expansion of the country’s lottery industry. Before the end of 2018, South Koreans will be able to buy Lotto tickets online, the Korea Times reports0. Lotto is the most popular lottery game in the country.
Under the plan, the government will set a 5 percent limit on online sales and also limit the amount that each player can buy online “due to concerns over individual speculative drive,” reported CalvinAyre.com. Before buying Lotto online, players will also need to confirmation that they are over 21.
Lottery games began in South Korea in 2002 and have been gaining in popularity ever since. In 2016, ticket sales peaked at KRW3.55 trillion (US$3.04 billion) or 3.55 billion tickets, up 9 percent from the prior year period.
Lottery players in South Korea buy an average of 14.2 tickets each year or one every four weeks, according to government data.
Despite the promise of new revenues, a Seoul-based university professor expressed concern about the development.
“The poor and uneducated people are typically the most avid buyers of Lotto. Hence, critics call the lottery a tax on the poor,” said the professor, who preferred to be anonymous. “The online sales would lead to easier access to Lotto, which would prompt more people to buy Lotto. I’m concerned that the poor would do so in many cases.”
