A chief lawmaker of the main opposition party again did not appear before prosecutors on Friday, disobeying the third and possibly final summons for questioning on suspicions of taking bribes from ailing savings banks.

Park Jie-won, floor leader of the Democratic United Party, attended a scheduled party meeting at the DUP headquarters instead of showing up at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in southern Seoul as requested at 10 a.m., according to party officials.

It marks the third time in a period of eight days that Park has ignored a subpoena in connection with the widening savings bank scandal.

The legislator has maintained that he will not cooperate with the prosecution’s plan to question him, accusing it of being politically driven and trying to distract the public from allegations of corruption involving an elder brother and two former aides of President Lee Myung-bak.

Prosecutors said they will soon seek an arrest warrant for him as he has repeatedly refused to show up.

The court then must seek consent from the National Assembly before deciding whether to issue an arrest warrant for the lawmaker or not.

In South Korea, parliamentary approval is required to arrest a lawmaker because a sitting lawmaker has immunity from arrest while the National Assembly is in session.

The ruling Saenuri Party has reportedly set a policy to approve the arrest motion for Park if the issue is raised, in line with the party’s pledge to give up privileges granted to lawmakers.

The three-term lawmaker is suspected of accepting around 100 million won (US$87,657) in kickbacks from the now-jailed Solomon Savings Bank chairman Lim Suk in return for influence peddling on behalf of the savings bank before the general elections in 2008, according to the prosecutors.

The prosecutors have also reportedly secured testimonies from the now-jailed former Bohae Mutual Savings Bank chairman Oh Moon-chol and Bohae Brewery Co. chairman Lim Kun-woo, who each allegedly gave some 30 million won to Park.

Park, who had served as a chief of presidential staff and a culture minister under former President Kim Dae-jung, became the floor leader of the center-left party in May. (Yonhap News)