(2nd LD) Yoon, Ahn agree to merge candidacies

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details, official's remarks in paras 3-6 )
By Lee Haye-ah

SEOUL, March 3 (Yonhap) -- Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol and Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor People's Party agreed to merge candidacies, sources said Thursday, less than a week before the March 9 election.

The two will hold a joint press conference at 8 a.m. to announce the agreement, the sources said.

Under the deal, Ahn will drop out of the race and declare his support for Yoon of the conservative People Power Party. The two parties will also merge after the election.

The agreement was reached when the two held a surprise meeting in the wee hours earlier Thursday.

"The two candidates met for about 2 1/2 hours from shortly after midnight until nearly 3 a.m. and agreed on these measures," a PPP official told Yonhap News Agency.

"They agreed to merge candidacies and parties without any conditions to honor the wishes of the majority of the people who wish for a change of government," the official said.

A merger is expected to increase the opposition's chances in a close race between Yoon and Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party. The agreement comes a day before early voting begins.

The two have been under pressure from conservatives to merge their campaigns but repeatedly clashed over the method, with Ahn initially proposing an opinion poll to pick a unified candidate.

Yoon and Lee have been neck and neck with around 40 percent support each in polls, while Ahn has had around 10 percent.

hague@yna.co.kr
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