Four new parties, including the New Future Party(NFP) created by former leader of the main opposition Democratic Party(DP) Lee Nak-yon, have agreed to merge ahead of the April general elections. 

The NFP, former ruling People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok's New Reform Party, former DP Rep. Geum Tae-sup's "New Choice" group and DP defector group's "Principle and Common Sense" group announced their merger on Friday at a joint news conference held at the National Assembly. 

The groups decided to name the merged party “New Reform Party” and have Lee Jun-seok and Lee Nak-yon serve as co-chairs. 

The new party is set to hold its first meeting shortly after the lunar New Year holidays end next Monday. 

Asked whether the co-chairs will run in the upcoming elections, the groups said no related discussions had taken place, adding that the two  leaders will respectively make a related announcement soon.