Seoul: A court on Friday began the procedure of requesting the National Assembly's consent to arrest Rep. Kweon Seong-dong of the main opposition People Power Party, who is embroiled in bribery allegations.

According to Yonhap News Agency, earlier this week, special counsel Min Joong-ki's team filed for an arrest warrant for Kweon, suspected of receiving 100 million won (US$72,000) in illegal political funds from a former official of the Unification Church, surnamed Yun, between 2021 and 2024 while being asked to support church events.

The Seoul Central District Court announced that it sent a request for consent to arrest Kweon to the special counsel team at 1:20 p.m. on Friday. This request will be submitted to the National Assembly after passing through the justice ministry and receiving presidential approval.

By law, sitting lawmakers are immune from arrest while parliament is in session and can only be put under arrest with consent from the National Assembly.

The arrest motion for Kweon is expected to be put to a plenary vote after Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik returns from his Chinese trip in early September. If the motion is passed by the parliament, the court will hold an arrest warrant hearing for the lawmaker.