Ahn Proposes Merging Presidential Candidacies With Yoon

Presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo of the centrist People's Party officially proposed merging candidacies with main opposition candidate Yoon Suk-yeol of right-wing People Power in a bid to secure "overwhelming victory" against ruling Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung.

• Yoon said he assessed Ahn's proposal "positively" but "there is a disappointing point as well," albeit he did not elaborate on the latter comment. There has been speculation that he may have been referring to the proposed method of selecting a unified candidate, that is through opinion polls. Yoon's campaign team have earlier expressed concern that survey results could be distorted by strategic voting by Democratic Party supporters.
• Ahn and Yoon have been under growing pressure from conservative quarters of the political scene to join forces, with Yoon and Lee locked in a neck-and-neck race. The latest Realmeter poll put Yoon on 43.5%, with Lee on 40.4% and Ahn on 7.8%.
• Official campaigning for the presidential election begins tomorrow, with voters due to cast their ballots on March 9.