Police on the 5th sought an arrest warrant for lawmaker Kang Sun-woo on suspicion of receiving 100 million won from former Seoul City Council member Kim Kyung ahead of the June 2022 local elections. If prosecutors request the warrant, the 22nd National Assembly is expected to hold its fourth vote on a motion to arrest a sitting lawmaker.
Article 44 of the Constitution states, "Members of the National Assembly shall not be arrested or detained without the consent of the National Assembly during its session, except in cases of flagrante delicto." This is the so-called privilege against arrest.
Because an extra session is underway in February, the court must obtain the National Assembly's consent to arrest to hold a pre-arrest suspect interrogation (substantive warrant review) for a sitting lawmaker. The motion to arrest passes by secret ballot if a majority of all members are present and a majority of those present vote in favor.
Since the start of the 22nd Assembly, the government has submitted arrest motions to the National Assembly for three lawmakers: Kweon Seong-dong and Choo Kyung-ho of the People Power Party, and Shin Young-dae of the Democratic Party of Korea.
Kweon, accused of receiving illegal political funds from the Unification Church, had the arrest motion passed with 173 in favor, 1 against, 1 abstention, and 2 invalid out of 177 present, and was taken into custody.
Choo, accused of obstructing the resolution to lift martial law, also saw the arrest motion approved with 172 in favor, 4 against, 2 abstentions, and 2 invalid out of 180 present. However, after the court held the substantive warrant review, it dismissed the warrant, and he was sent to trial without detention.
Shin, for whom an arrest warrant was sought in 2024 on bribery charges and allegations of manipulating primary polling in the general election, saw the arrest motion voted down, with 93 in favor, 197 against, and 5 abstentions out of 295 present. Shin was indicted without detention.
If an arrest warrant is also sought for Kang, the motion to arrest is expected to be introduced at a plenary session of the National Assembly. On the 3rd, as Kang left after completing a second police questioning, reporters asked whether the "privilege against arrest" would be kept in place, but Kang did not answer.
After receiving a request for consent to arrest from the Ministry of Justice, the National Assembly speaker must report it at the first plenary session convened thereafter and put it to a vote between 24 and 72 hours later. If the deadline passes, it must be put to a vote at the first plenary session held thereafter.
Kang is suspected of receiving 100 million won from the former city council member Kim in return for a Democratic Party city council nomination ahead of the June 2022 local elections. Kang is also suspected of having received 130 million won in the form of "split donations" from about a dozen people linked to the former city council member Kim on two occasions after returning the 100 million won.