The National Assembly on Thursday gave the green light to the detainment of Rep. Hyun Young-hee, a former Saenuri Party member, who is accused of bribing her way into parliament.

It was the second approval of such a motion as the parliament is moving to restore public trust undermined by a shaky political reform drive ahead of the presidential election.

The vote was conducted before the Assembly held the first interpellation session on the government, in which they locked horns over the recently approved special audit of President Lee Myung-bak’s scrapped retirement home plan and other pending controversies including the resumption of capital punishment in the wake of high-profile violent crimes.

Of the 266 attending lawmakers, 200 voted in approval of the motion, while 47 objected, five abstained and 14 were counted as invalid.

The ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party had earlier agreed verbally to recommend their members to approve the detainment in light of aggravated public sentiment over the politicians’ immunity privileges.

Under the Constitution and the National Assembly Act, the arrest of incumbent lawmakers during a working session must receive approval from a majority of lawmakers.

In July, upon parliament consensus, independent lawmaker Rep. Park Joo-sun was detained and sentenced to two years of imprisonment for violating the election law. He is currently undergoing an appeal upon the risk of losing his lawmaker status.

Hyun, elected as a proportional representative, is suspected of giving 300 million won ($264,100) in March to Hyun Ki-hwan, a former Saenuri lawmaker then in charge of the nomination screening process.

Both Hyuns were kicked out of the Saenuri last month.

Rep. Hyun is also suspected of giving contributions to key Saenuri members through borrowed accounts and distributing monetary funds to volunteer workers, and if found guilty, may also lose her lawmaker’s seat.

The Busan District Prosecutors’ Office investigating the cash-for-nomination is expected to eventually seek her arrest following her appearance for the court’s review.

Prior to the vote on her fate, Rep. Hyun wept and plead her colleagues to spare her, saying, “I cannot but lament the National Election Commission and the prosecution for investigating the case based solely on false testimonies.”

The parties had faced an outpouring of criticism for “holding onto their privileges” contrary to their earlier reform pledge, by voting on July 11 against the detainment of Saenuri Rep. Chung Doo-un, who is facing bribery suspicions dating back to 2007. Chung had claimed the current system unfairly hindered him to voluntarily respond to the prosecutor’s summons during the working session.

DUP floor leader Park Jie-won, also suspected of a past bribery, chose at the last minute to skip the whole process on July 31 by voluntarily appearing for questioning.

Both, however, still face the possibility of detention, as the prosecution is determined to carry on their investigation this month. Sources, however, suggested the prosecutors will opt to indict them without an arrest for less political burden.

Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik, meanwhile, said during the interpellation session that the government would take caution so that President Lee Myung-bak does not damage the neutrality of the approaching presidential election.

He was responding to the DUP’s criticism against last week’s private meeting between Lee and Saenuri presidential candidate Park Geun-hye.

To a question on the government’s stance on the special audit of the president’s retirement home scandal, Kim responded that the Ministry of Government Legislation will be taking due steps when the audit bill is handed over.

Lee’s son and aides had been accused of violating real estate laws and misappropriating taxpayers’ money in the purchase of a plot of land located in Naegok-dong, southern Seoul. They were cleared of charges by prosecutors in June.

By Lee Joo-hee (jhl@heraldcorp.com)