[News Today] Candidates register for local elections

[LEAD]

The June 3 local elections and parliamentary by-elections are now just 19 days away. Official candidate registration closes today.

But the tug-of-war over candidate unification is still intense. Party leaders on both sides are also stepping up their campaign schedules.

[REPORT]

On the first day of candidate registration, all five runners for the Gyeonggi Pyeongtaek-eul district in the general re-election finished putting their names on the roster.

It means that the first deadline for candidate unification went by and they're all refusing to discuss the issue further.

Jung Chung-rae / Chair, Democratic Party

There’s no move whatsoever to unify the candidates in Pyeongtaek-eul.

Cho Kuk / RKP candidate for Pyeongtaek-eul (KBS radio show)

Citizens, the local media, and civic groups haven’t ordered us to unify.

Putting up one unified candidate doesn't seem very likely in the conservative camp as well.

Yu Eui-dong / PPP candidate for Pyeongtaek-eul (May 11, MBC radio show)

Possibility isn’t zero but I don’t put high priority on it.

The Democratic Party and the Rebuilding Korea Party succeeded in merging their Ulsan mayoral candidates right before candidate registration.

The DP and Progressive Party candidates agreed on Friday morning to merge through a primary election.

Meanwhile, the People Power Party and independent candidates finished registering independently as discussions on the merger of mayoral hopefuls were stopped.

Park Maeng-woo / Independent candidate for Ulsan Mayor

Since I finished registration, unification became physically difficult.

Friday is the last day of official candidate registration.