South Korean presidential candidates Moon Jae-In and Ahn Cheol-Soo have agreed in principle to team up. The two hope to unite the liberal vote against election front-runner Park Geun-Hye, with one of the men dropping out of the race and endorsing the other.
Moon urged his independent rival to agree on a “united candidacy” that would decide who will drop out of the presidential polls and nominate one man. The two met in Seoul with no immediate decision on who will run against Park. A decision is expected by Nov. 25-26, officials from their respective campaigns told AFP.
“It was agreed that officials from both sides will meet soon to prepare a joint declaration on broad political reforms,” Ahn’s spokesman said. “After the declaration is completed, the two candidates will reach a decision on who will run as a single candidate.”
Both candidates aim to forestall handing another presidential victory to the ruling Saenuri Party and pledged to root out South Korea’s chaebol, or business conglomerates, under President Lee Myung-bak’s administration.
“We agree that we should go beyond the candidacy consolidation to share values and policies. We agree that we should not only win the presidential victory but also achieve political reform,” Moon said.
