[THE INVESTOR] Over 130 billion won ($118.3 million) in lottery prizes has been left unclaimed over the last three years in Korea, government data showed on Aug. 16.

According to the lottery committee of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, a total of 138.3 billion won in prize money from Lotto, the most popular offline lottery, has been left unclaimed by winners in the 2013-2015 period.

Of the 18 million prizewinners who failed to receive their winnings, 13 people won the top prize, with their prizes standing at 21.8 billion won over the cited period.

The ministry said the right to claim Lotto prizes expires after one year, and the unclaimed winnings are added to state coffers.

In the first six months of the year, 2.97 million people lost the right to claim a combined 26.4 billion won in prizes, the ministry added.

Lottery sales rose to a 12-year high of 3.56 trillion won last year amid a protracted economic slump, according to separate data.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)