A motion to arrest Rep. Jeong Jeong-soon of the Democratic Party, who was accused of fiscal misconduct during the April 15 general election, was passed with overwhelming approval at the plenary session of the National Assembly today (29th).



Among the 186 votes, Chung's motion for arrest was passed by anonymous ballot with 167 votes in favor, 12 votes against, 3 abstentions, and 4 invalids.



The prosecution filed a request for an arrest warrant on the 28th of last month, saying that Congressman Chung did not comply with the request for attendance, and submitted a request for arrest on the 5th to the National Assembly.



Before the vote, Congressman Chung made his last visit to fellow lawmakers through his personal remarks in the main assembly hall. He argued, "I asked the prosecution to postpone attendance for justifiable reasons, and I informed the prosecution until the date of attendance, but I couldn't attend according to the prosecution's opinion that investigation was impossible on that day"



He said, "The prosecution's request for an arrest warrant is not justified," he argued. "It will result in making ourselves unrecognizable for the privilege of arrest granted by the Constitution." 



He then appealed, "I believe that our senior fellow lawmakers will judge whether this is the right way to go," but fellow lawmakers replied by passing a vote for an arrest warrant for Chung. 



It is the 14th time that the motion for arrest has been passed, and it has been five years since Rep. Park Ki-chun of the New Political Democracy Association in 2015. 



(Composition: Eul-sun Cho, editor: Seung-yeon Park)