Discrepancies began to emerge Wednesday between two opposition presidential candidates one day after they reached an agreement to unify their campaigns for the Dec. 19 presidential election.

Democratic United Party presidential candidate Moon Jae-in and independent Ahn Cheol-soo on Tuesday promised to present a single candidate before candidate registration on Nov. 25-26.

However, the liberal bloc is far from home free with a number of tricky tasks remaining including the candidate selection method.

Suggestions for possible merger methods have already appeared from Moon’s side, but Ahn’s camp appears more cautious.

Even before the two candidates agreed on the merger, a number of possible candidate selection methods had been discussed, and an opinion poll is considered most favorable for Ahn. 

“TV debate could be one of many methods. I do not think things are leaning toward an opinion poll,” chief of Moon’s political reform committee Ahn Kyung-hwan said in a radio interview. Rep. Shin Geh-ryeun, chief of Moon’s special advisors, said that the two candidates could hammer out the details themselves in one-on-one discussions.

In contrast, key Ahn aides have stated that the candidate selection method must wait until after the joint political reform statement is completed.

“Discussing the method first is not doing right by the public,” co-chairman of Ahn’s election headquarters Kim Song-sik said, adding that the joint statement takes priority.

Aside from deciding the rules for candidate selection, the main factors that could hamper the merger process appear likely to be the interpretation of the term “public coalition” and the degree of alliance between the two sides.

Tuesday’s statement shows that the two candidates agree that there is a need for a “public coalition,” a term first used by Ahn earlier in the week.

Moon’s side is of the position that there needs to be a unification of the candidates’ power bases, for which the DUP had toyed with the idea of Ahn joining the party.

While it would be an ideal solution from the perspective of the DUP, Ahn’s joining the party is considered not only unlikely but also detrimental to the former academic’s popularity. According to experts, one of the main points that attract voters to Ahn is the fact that he represents a dramatic change from established politics because he has no party affiliation.

As the situation stands, the DUP is said to not be ruling out the possibility of forming a new party based on the “public coalition” after the election.

In contrast, Ahn’s side, at least for now, appears to be ruling out the possibility of a new party.

“(The coalition) means a framework to contain the agreement process,” Ahn’s spokesman Yoo Min-young said.

“There is no reason to discuss a new party. Such discussions have not taken place.”

The two sides have formed the taskforce for drawing up the joint statement on political reform, as promised during the meeting. As part of the merger process, the two said that they would first issue a joint statement on political reform, and that a working-level team comprising three officials from each side would be formed for the task.

From Moon’s side, Sungkonghoe University professor Jung Hae-gu, administrator of the camp’s political reform committee, and Reps. Kim Hyun-mee and Yun Ho-jung are taking part in the taskforce.

Ahn’s side is represented by former Saenuri Party lawmaker Kim Song-sik, Kyungnam University professor Shi Ji-yeon and Kyung Hee University professor Kim Min-jeon.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)