National Assembly to vote on arrest motion of 2 lawmakers involved in election bribery scandal

The National Assembly is to hold a vote Monday on whether to give consent to the potential arrests of two lawmakers accused of involvement in a cash-for-vote campaign ahead of the main opposition Democratic Party's 2021 leadership election.

Prosecutors had sought arrest warrants for the two -- Reps. Youn Kwan-suk and Lee Sung-man -- for their alleged involvement in a campaign to distribute "cash envelopes" to Democratic Party members to help then candidate Song Young-gil win party chairmanship ahead of the party's national convention in May 2021.

Song was ultimately elected the party chairman.

Specifically, Youn was accused of handing over 60 million won ($46,595) to Democratic Party lawmakers, while Lee allegedly gave campaign officials 10 million won so that the money could be provided to regional party officials.

The two left the party last month after the allegations surfaced and are now independents.

National Assembly consent is necessary to arrest them because by law, legislators are immune from arrest while the parliament is in session, a measure designed to shield lawmakers from political persecution.

In order for an arrest consent motion to pass, it requires majority support in a vote attended by at least half of all lawmakers. Whether the current motion will pass will likely be determined by Democratic Party lawmakers as the party holds a majority of 167 seats.

Some insiders anticipate Democratic Party members will vote in favor of the motion, considering the worsened public image of the party in the wake of a series of scandals, including a cryptocurrency scandal involving former party member Kim Nam-kuk.

During the current National Assembly, whose four-year term began in April 2020, a total of six arrest motions have been presented and four of them approved. The two rejections were about Democratic Party lawmakers, including party leader Lee Jae-myung. (Yonhap)

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