Prosecutors sought arrest warrants for two lawmakers for a second time Tuesday over a cash-for-votes scandal surrounding the main opposition Democratic Party's 2021 leadership election, after the National Assembly refused to consent to their arrests earlier this year.

Reps. Youn Kwan-suk and Lee Sung-man, now independents after quitting the Democratic Party, are accused of involvement in distributing cash envelopes, each containing 3 million won, to 20 Democratic Party lawmakers as part of the election campaign of former Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil.

Song ultimately won the election and served as Democratic Party chairman until March 2022.

In May, prosecutors sought arrest warrants for the two, but the National Assembly rejected a request for consent to their arrests. By law, lawmakers cannot be arrested without parliamentary consent while the National Assembly is in session.

With the Assembly out of session until Aug. 16, the two can now be arrested.

The Seoul Central District Court is expected to hold arrest warrant hearings for the two to determine whether to issue the warrants. (Yonhap)