Nat'l Assembly approves arrest motion of PPP lawmaker

By Yi Wonju

SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Yonhap) -- The National Assembly on Thursday approved a motion to arrest Rep. Kweon Seong-dong of the main opposition People Power Party on bribery allegations.

Last month, a special counsel team filed for an arrest warrant against Kweon for allegedly receiving 100 million won (US$72,000) in illegal political funds from a former Unification Church official in 2022, while being asked to support the church.

By law, sitting lawmakers are immune from arrest while parliament is in session and can only be put under arrest with consent from the National Assembly. A Seoul court began the procedure of requesting the National Assembly's consent late last month.

The arrest motion passed in a 173-1 vote with one abstention during a parliamentary plenary session earlier in the day. The court will hold a hearing soon to decide whether to issue the arrest warrant.

The special counsel team has been investigating bribery allegations surrounding the Unification Church as part of its corruption investigation into former first lady Kim Keon Hee.

julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)