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SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - SOUTH Korea's two leading liberal parties on Sunday officially merged in a bid to prevent a landslide victory by the conservative Grand National Party (GNP) in April's legislative election.
The United New Democratic Party (UNDP) and the smaller Democratic Party had agreed on the merger earlier this month. The new party registered with the election watchdog will tentatively be called the United Democratic Party.
The UNDP currently has 135 members of parliament and the DP six to the GNP's 130, but liberal politicians fear a major swing to the conservatives in the April 9 election.
Conservative Lee Myung-Bak, who won the presidential election in December, is set to take office on Feb 25.
The co-chairman of the new liberal party, Sohn Hak-Kyu, said in a statement that his movement would work to 'curb' the influence of the GNP, which had displayed an 'arrogant and condescending' attitude towards South Koreans.
'Orthodox democratic forces with 50 years of history are united again today for a fresh start,' he said.
The two liberal parties, which split in Nov 2003 and renamed themselves, had sought an alliance before the presidential election but could not agree on power-sharing.
Many voters remain disgruntled with the past five years of liberal rule under outgoing President Roh Moo-Hyun, especially because of unemployment among the country's youth, an ever-widening income gap and soaring property prices. -- AFP
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