Yoon says Ahn rejected candidacy merger deal
Presidential candidates Yoon Suk-yeol, left, of the main opposition People Power Party and Ahn Cheol-soo of the opposition People's Party before a televised presidential debate for the forthcoming March 9 presidential election, in Seoul, Feb. 25. AP-Yonhap
Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol said Sunday his campaign came close to a deal on merging candidacies with Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor People's Party in overnight talks, but Ahn ultimately rejected the deal for unclear reasons.
Despite the rejection, Yoon of the People Power Party said he will continue to await Ahn's response to his calls for fielding a unified opposition candidate in the March 9 presidential election in order to meet people's yearning for a change of government.
"I will not give up hope for opposition unification," Yoon told a press conference.
According to Yoon, top representatives of the two campaigns held talks on unifying candidacies Saturday afternoon and even reached a tentative agreement. However, Ahn did not endorse the deal, saying he needs more justification to drop out of the race.
The two sides later held overnight talks where Ahn's campaign demanded that Yoon hold a press conference Sunday morning to publicly propose a campaign merger with Ahn. Yoon said he accepted the request, but talks have since gone nowhere.
"Unfortunately, I was notified of the breakdown in the candidacy merger at 9 a.m. this morning," he said.
Yoon said he does not know why Ahn rejected the deal.
"We don't know the reasons. When we asked them what the reasons were this morning, they said they don't know either," he said.
Sunday was widely regarded as the de facto deadline for a deal. The state election commission is scheduled to start printing ballot papers for the March 9 presidential election Monday.
Yoon, however, said he is still willing to meet Ahn anytime and anywhere.
"If he decides the time and place now ... I would like to meet him directly and have a heart-to-heart talk. I will be waiting for his reply," Yoon said.
A candidate unification has been considered a surefire way for the opposition to win the tight race, in which Yoon and Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) have been running neck and neck with around support of 40 percent each ― Ahn has around 10 percent.
Ahn had first proposed merging campaigns with Yoon earlier this month, but he withdrew the proposal a week later after Yoon's campaign balked at Ahn's offer to choose a unified candidate through opinion polls.
Despite the withdrawal, officials of the two sides continued negotiations behind the scenes.
Meanwhile, Yoon said he will resume his campaign activities in the evening. He earlier canceled his campaign schedule in the morning to prepare for the press conference. (Yonhap)