A Seoul Court has dismissed the arrest warrant for the main opposition Democratic Party(DP) leader on Thursday following the National Assembly's rejection of the prosecution's request.

The Seoul Central District Court tossed the request seeking a warrant to arrest Lee Jae-myung on charges of corruption in connection with a land development scandal and bribery through the Seongnam football club while he was mayor of the city.

On Monday, a motion permitting the prosecution to seek Lee’s arrest was narrowly defeated in the National Assembly, with 139 lawmakers voting for and 138 against out of the 299-member chamber, preventing the motion from garnering the 149 votes to pass.

The motion was required by the National Assembly Act, under which immunity granted to lawmakers while parliament is in session can only be overridden by a majority vote on a tabled motion to that effect.

The prosecution is now widely expected to indict the opposition leader without detention, or may pursue another arrest warrant.