S. Korea presidential hopefuls discuss united candidacy

SEOUL (AFP) - South Korea's two left-leaning presidential hopefuls held merger talks on Tuesday on picking a single candidate to challenge conservative front-runner Park Geun Hye in an increasingly tight race.

Mr Moon Jae In, from the main opposition Democratic United Party, and Mr Ahn Cheol Soo, a software mogul running as an independent, said they would do their best to reach a compromise that would require one of them to drop out from the race.

"I am well aware that... it is the people's great wish that I and Ahn form a single candidacy and achieve the administrative change by all means," Mr Moon told reporters before the closed-door meeting.

"We will... try to announce good news to people as early as possible," he said.