Prosecutors sought a detention warrant Friday for 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, prosecutors said.
  

The Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office suspects that the three-term lawmaker helped Kim's business in exchange for the money and valuables.
  

Park's detention is subject to parliamentary consent as sitting lawmakers in South Korea are immune from arrest while the National Assembly is in session.
  

The Ministry of Justice will submit a motion to arrest the lawmaker, with the approval of President Park Geun-hye, to the National Assembly.
  

The motion must be reported at the earliest plenary meeting and the National Assembly speaker must put the matter to a vote within 72 hours, after waiting a day. The motion is carried if half of the sitting members are present and half of those are in favor.
  

If the motion is passed, only then will a district court hold a hearing to decide whether to issue an arrest warrant for Park.
  

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)