A sitting lawmaker, formerly affiliated with the main opposition party, received a jail sentence Friday for taking bribes from a businessman.

The Seoul Central District Court handed down a 16-month jail term to Rep. Park Ki-choon, formerly of the Minjoo Party of Korea, for receiving some 270 million won ($225,800) from the head of a distribution agency, only known by his surname Kim, in return for business favors. The court also ordered Park to forfeit 278 million won.

Prosecutors alleged that Park's key roles during the 18th and the current 19th National Assembly on the parliamentary Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs Committee, where legislation on the construction industry is dealt with, put him in a favorable position to help Kim.

The court also convicted Park of making one of his aides hide a massage chair he received, and delivered a six-month jail term but suspended it for two years.

The 60-year-old lawmaker was indicted in August 2015 on charges of receiving more than 350 million won and valuables such as luxury watches from Kim.

Still, the court said the chair and watches, some of which cost more than 30 million won, cannot be seen as illegal political funds.

Park claimed that part of the money, the chair and the watches were given based on a personal relationship and were not political funds.

Park was detained after a district court issued an arrest warrant with the consent of the National Assembly in August 2015.

His arrest was subject to parliamentary consent as lawmakers in South Korea are immune from detention while the National Assembly is in session.

Park left the main opposition party in August 2015, noting that he does not want to place any burden on it.

Park will lose his legislative seat if the sentence is upheld by the Supreme Court. (Yonhap)