Prosecutors said Wednesday they will reinvestigate a ruling party lawmaker who had been accused of sexual assault but was previously cleared of charges by police.

Rep. Sim Hag-bong, formerly of the ruling Saenuri Party, was suspected of sexually assaulting a woman in her 40s at a hotel in Daegu, a major city in North Gyeongsang Province, on July 13. He was cleared of the allegation on Tuesday, after police questioned him.

The Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency said the 54-year-old lawmaker's statement that he met with the woman two days after she filed the report to clear up any misunderstandings matched that of the woman.

The woman initially accused Sim of raping her, but later changed her story and said there was no coercion.

The Daegu District Public Prosecutor's Office said they will investigate whether coercian was involved or Sim persuaded the woman to change her statement.

Sim and the woman will be summoned again if necessary, prosecutors said.

A group of 25 female lawmakers from the New Politics Alliance for Democracy filed a motion with the National Assembly's Ethics Committee, calling for Sim to be punished.

"The National Assembly should disqualify him from his parliamentary seat if he does not step down voluntarily," NPAD spokesperson Kim Sung-soo said.

Sim left the ruling party earlier this week, noting that he does not want to place any burden on it.

The ruling party said Monday it has accepted Sim's letter of defection. The move lowered the number of seats held by the ruling party in the 298-member parliament to 159. (Yonhap)