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People Power Party presidential nominee Yoon Suk-yeol clasps hands with People’s Party presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo after a press conference at the National Assembly building in Seoul announcing they had merged their campaigns on March 3. (Kim Bong-gyu/The Hankyoreh)

In a late-night Wednesday meeting with People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, People Party candidate Ahn Cheol-soo reached a surprise agreement to drop out of the presidential race and declare his support for Yoon.

On Thursday morning, Yoon and Ahn announced a “joint declaration of candidate consolidation for fairness, common sense, unity, and the future” at the National Assembly press center.

“I, Ahn Cheol-soo, have decided to support Yoon Suk-yeol as a candidate,” Ahn declared in the statement.

“I, Yoon Suk-yeol, will carry on Ahn Cheol-soo’s wishes and achieve victory, creating a successful administration of national unity,” Yoon declared for his part.

The two of them also said they would “work together in electing a new administration, together in taking over the administration, together in preparing for the administration, and together in establishing the administration.”

“On the strength of this change in administrations, our two parties, the People Power Party and People’s Party, will merge after the election to enable a transformation of politics and a changing of eras,” they also said.

“Today’s declaration was a long time in coming, with many twists and turns along the way, but it is ultimately you, the public, who have brought about this consolidation,” the statement said, stressing the significance of “Yoon Suk-yeol, someone whose stature the public has helped to build, and Ahn Cheol-soo, someone who has traveled with the public for the last 10 years, joining forces to reflect the public’s will.”

Shortly after their last televised debate Wednesday, the two candidates met at an undisclosed location in Seoul’s Gangnam area for a meeting that lasted into the early morning hours on Thursday.

During this meeting, they reportedly reached an agreement, after which the joint declaration’s content was coordinated by the individuals who had been in charge of behind-the-scenes negotiations for their respective camps: lawmaker Chang Je-won of the People Power Party and lawmaker Lee Tae-kyu for the People’s Party.

The surprise agreement that day came 19 days after Ahn officially proposed to Yoon on Feb. 13 that the two sides reach an agreement on a single candidate based on opinion polling results.

Analysts attributed the agreement to factors including Thursday being the last day on which polling results could be publicly shared with the election six days away; the tight margin in support ratings between Yoon and Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung; and the fact that Ahn’s supporting ratings had consistently remained in the single digits.

Another consideration for Ahn may have been the possibility of a Lee victory that would leave him facing accusations from critics that he prevented a conservative victory by splitting the vote.

By Kim Mi-na, staff reporter

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