Software expert joins South Korea president race

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Software expert joins South Korea president race

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - A popular software company founder has formally announced his bid to become South Korea's president.

Ahn Cheol-soo's decision ends months of speculation on whether he would run in December elections and adds a new complexity to the race.

The founder of Seongnam-based antivirus maker AhnLab told reporters Wednesday that he's running because of public calls to reform politics.

Ahn has long been neck-and-neck in a hypothetical two-way matchup against conservative ruling party candidate Park Geun-hye in opinion surveys. But he has been vague until now about his ambitions.

Park is the eldest daughter of late dictator Park Chung-hee.

Liberal opposition candidate Moon Jae-in is running third in polls behind Park and Ahn. Moon has said he'll seek to win Ahn's support so they can muster liberal votes against Park.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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