The National Assembly Thursday passed a motion to arrest an opposition lawmaker over suspicions that he took bribes from a businessman.
 

Rep. Park Ki-choon of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy is suspected of receiving illegal political funds worth 350 million won ($299,000) and valuables such as luxury watches and bags from the head of a distribution agency, only known by his surname Kim.
  

His arrest was subject to parliamentary consent as lawmakers in South Korea are immune from detention while the National Assembly is in session.
  

The motion to arrest Park, which was put to a vote during a regular session Thursday, was passed 137-89, with five abstentions and five votes deemed invalid.
  

A district court will soon hold a hearing to decide whether to issue a warrant requested by the prosecution to put him under arrest.
  

Prosecutors allege that the 59-year-old Park's key positions on the parliamentary Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs Committee, where legislation on the construction industry is dealt with, during the 18th and the current 19th National Assembly, put him in a favorable position to help Kim. (Yonhap)