The arrest consent request for independent lawmakers Yoon Kwan-seok and Lee Seong-man, key suspects in the Democratic Party's 'money envelope' scandal, was forwarded to the National Assembly on the 26th.
The Ministry of Justice announced that in the afternoon, following a request for arrest consent from a judge at the Seoul Central District Court regarding the two lawmakers' alleged violations of the Political Parties Act, it submitted the arrest consent request to the National Assembly after approval from President Yoon Seok-yeol.
Due to the parliamentary immunity from arrest during sessions held by sitting lawmakers, the court can only hold a pre-arrest suspect hearing (warrant examination) if the National Assembly passes the arrest consent motion for the two lawmakers.
After receiving the request, the Speaker of the National Assembly must report it at the first plenary session convened, and then hold a plenary session within 72 hours after 24 hours have passed to conduct a secret ballot vote. If the plenary session is not held within 72 hours, the vote will take place at the next earliest plenary session.
Therefore, the arrest consent motion for these lawmakers will be reported at the plenary session scheduled for the 30th. The vote is expected to take place at the first plenary session of the June extraordinary session. The motion passes if a majority of the total members are present and a majority of those present vote in favor.
If the arrest consent motion is approved, the court will set a date for the warrant examination and proceed with the hearing; if rejected, the warrant will be dismissed without a separate hearing.
Lawmaker Yoon is suspected of conspiring with former Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil and former Korea Water Resources Corporation Standing Auditor Kang Rae-gu to distribute a total of 60 million won to incumbent Democratic Party lawmakers to support Song's election ahead of the party convention at the end of April 2021.
Lawmaker Lee is accused of providing 1 million won to former Democratic Party Deputy Secretary-General Lee Jeong-geun in March 2021 as operating expenses for the primary campaign and 10 million won in cash to former auditor Kang and others for regional headquarters chiefs to support Song's election. He is also suspected of receiving 3 million won from Lawmaker Yoon in April of the same year.
In political circles, there is speculation that a significant number of defections will occur during the vote on the arrest consent motion for the two lawmakers in the Democratic Party, which had previously faced fierce criticism as a 'bulletproof parliament' after consecutively rejecting arrest consent motions for its own members, Lawmaker Noh Woong-rae and leader Lee Jae-myung.
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