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Prosecutors took five lawmakers into custody early Saturday morning. The move follows the arrest of Uri Party Assemblyman Chyung Dai-chul on Friday morning.
The five were Grand National Party (GNP) members Kim Young-iel, Park Myung-hwan, Park Joo-cheon, Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) members Lee Hun-pyung and Park Ju-sun.
Prosecutors demanded Friday arrest warrants for the six lawmakers as well as GNP members Choi Don-woong and Park Jae-wook for their connections with illegal campaign fund raising.
GNP Rep. Kim Young-iel and the seven other legislators were blocked from being arrest by a National Assembly vote at the end of last year.
A sitting legislator cannot be arrested while the National Assembly is in session, prosecutors have had a difficult time conduction their investigations.
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Uri Party lawmaker Chyung Dai-chul reports to the Seoul District Court for an arrest hearing Friday.
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Mun Hyo-nam of the Investigation Planning Body earlier said that compared to normal cases of corruption, the suspicions surrounding the legislators are quite substantial, and taking account of other cases of corruption, the prosecutors decided the situation required arrest warrants.
Prosecutors hope that with Chyung, the former head of what was called the New Millennium Democratic Party at the time, and Kim Young-iel in police custody, investigators will be able to make rapid progress in getting to the bottom of the slush fund scandals. Kim Young-iel and Choi Don-woong are suspected of raising an uncountable amount of illegal campaign funds for the Grand National Party.
Sung-ho Youn/Robert Koehler, internetnews@chosun.com
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