A lawmaker formerly affiliated with the ruling party resigned from his post Monday over allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman.
  

Rep. Sim Hag-bong, who left the ruling Saenuri Party in August, submitted his resignation just hours before the National Assembly was scheduled to vote on a motion to expel him.
  

Sim is being investigated by prosecutors on suspicion of sexually assaulting a woman in her 40s at a hotel in Daegu on July 13.
  

It would have been the first time for a sitting lawmaker to be ousted from the parliament for ethics reasons if the motion would have passed.
  

Sim left the ruling party on Aug. 3, noting that he did not want to place any burden on it.
  

The Saenuri Party accepted Sim's letter of defection. His defection lowered the number of seats held by the ruling party in the 298-member parliament to 159. (Yonhap)