On October 19th, YTN reported the story of a lottery winner who was forced to pay two hundred million won, (USD $188,600) to his friend thanks to a promise made when they were out drinking. The winner got his money, all ₩1.4 billion (USD $1.3 million) of it, after his friend bought him a lottery ticket on a night out. Before he won the grand prize, Mr. Choi promised his generous friend that he would pay him back with two hundred million won if he won. The unlikely happened and Choi faced the question of whether he would actually pay his friend, Mr. Moon. When Choi refused to pay the full amount, Moon took him to court, where a judge agreed with the plaintiff and compelled Choi to pay the money he promised, whether or not there was a written contract.
Netizens were merciless with Choi, criticizing him for trying to break his promise after he won the grand prize.
Article from YTN:
‘If I win I’ll give you two hundred million’…but do you have to keep such a promise?
Lottery tickets are often given as presents in hopes of getting lucky.
As a joke, friends will often say to each other, “if I win, I’ll give you some!”
But if that dream came true and you won the lottery, would you keep such a spoken promise? Reporter Lee Jong Won finds out the answer to this question.
Mr. Moon was out drinking with his friends when he suddenly decided to buy four lottery tickets.
Moon took the first ticket for himself, then gave the other three away to his friends.
One of the friends, Mr. Choi, thanked his friend and as he took his ticket, saying loudly, “if I win the lottery, I’m giving you two hundred million won, (USD $188,600).”
During that night’s lottery number announcement, Choi’s dream came true.
Choi won first place in the lottery, a prize of ₩1.4 billion, (USD $1.3 million).
While Choi repeated his promise to pay Moon the two hundred million won, in the end, he ended up giving him only ₩80 million, (USD $75,440).
As a result, Moon decided to sue Choi for the remaining 120 million won.
Choi responded that there was never a written agreement and even if there was an expectation of payment, there was never any discussion of a deadline. He refused to pay and decided to take the case to court.
The presiding court ended up siding with Moon. The verdict stated that while there was never a written agreement, the spoken promise can still be considered a “lottery winnings sharing agreement”.
In addition, Moon supported his case by saying he had contributed to the outcome by purchasing the lottery tickets.
The court went on to say that while there was never any agreed deadline for Choi to make the payment, as per standard financial principles, when a creditor asks for payment, the debtor must immediately make payment.
Comments from Daum:
아빠맞아요:
he got greedy as soon as he saw the money, pay up you asshole
OTR22:
He should give seven hundred million won. If it hadn’t been for Moon, Choi never would have won the lottery.
수선화:
damn, just pay up you jackass
헌터:
bastard won the grand prize with a free ticket. Looks like he was about to pay up but he got too attached to his money. I remember reading so many positive articles about friends who promised to share lottery winnings when they bought tickets and then actually ended up paying each other tsk tsk but this is different
캡틴깡:
Choi really seems like an asshole
마음은여기:
His thoughts changed as soon as he made some money. It would have been better if he paid two hundred million to each of the three friends and then enjoyed their friendship for the rest of his life.
wonwon21:
I hope you end up ruined, you piece of garbage!
강태공:
I also had the habit of telling my coworker, who was always careful to save his money, that if I won the lottery I would give him 10% without any strings attached… Then a short time after I said that, I won third place in the lottery… I gave him 10% of my winnings after the tax was taken out of it and told him to buy some diapers for his baby…Even if I had won the grand prize I would have given him the 10% and told him to move into a nice house.
비담:
Choi is a cheater.. Not only should he have paid the two hundred million to Moon, he should have gone to his house every New Year’s Day thereafter with his children so that he could pay his respects..What do you think you’re getting into the Saenuri Party with that money?
꿈이란:
looks like he lost his money and his friends…
후앰아이후아유:
If I win the grand prize and Lee Myung Bak is sent to prison then I will have a giant free noodle party in front of Seoul City Hall!!! If I win the lottery and Park Geun-hye leaves office then I will throw a feast for everyone in front of Seoul City Hall…
건우미소:
What is money anyway… you ruined a close friendship
나그네나그네:
That’s rotten human nature for you, what do they say, ‘how you feel before going to the bathroom and after going to the bathroom is totally different’… but the judge was right to use his common sense…not like some of the crazies who lead courtrooms in other parts of Seoul
