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| Ki Sung-yueng secured an 'away' draw in Shanghai for South Korea [GALLO/GETTY] |
North and South Korea, states technically still at war, drew 1-1 in a World Cup qualifying match moved to Shanghai for political reasons.
World governing body FIFA last month moved the match, originally scheduled to take place in Pyongyang, because the North refused to play the South's anthem and raise the flag of its foe at a stadium in its capital.
Spot fine
North Korea struck first when Hong Yong-jo converted a penalty awarded in the 64th minute after a foul in the area by South Korean captain Kim Nam-il.
South Korea equalised five minutes later when Ki Sung-yueng controlled a long pass on his chest and then slid a low shot under the dive of North Korean goalkeeper Ri Myong-guk.
The result on Wednesday left North Korea top of Asian Group 2 with four points from two matches, while South Korea are second with a point after one match.
South Korea were without forward Park Ji-sung because his club Manchester United would not release him for international duty, fearing he could aggravate a lingering knee injury.
The two Koreas, whose 1950-53 war ended in a ceasefire and not a peace treaty, had already played out two goalless draws in the third round of Asian qualifying.
South Korea, looking for a seventh straight trip to the World Cup finals, played the anthem of its Cold War rival and raised its flag when the North came to Seoul in June.
Socceroos hold on
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| Luke Wilkshire set up his side's only goal [GALLO/GETTY] |
In the other early kickoff in Asian qualifying, Australia bagged an early goal then soaked up more than an hour of pressure to earn a 1-0 win over Uzbekistan.
The Socceroos went ahead through Scott Chipperfield after 25 entertaining minutes, then fended off a string of dangerous Uzbek attacks which yielded nothing but frustrated groans from the capacity crowd in Tashkent.
Uzbekistan dominated the match but their midfield industriousness was wasted after a string of disappointing crosses and poor set pieces.
Australia got their break against the run of play when Luke Wilkshire skipped over a tackle on the right from Islom Innomov to find the unmarked Chipperfield, who headed into the top left corner.
Misfiring
Chasing a place at their first World Cup finals, Uzbekistan had more than a handful of second-half chances but were denied by desperate goal-line clearances and their misfiring marksman Maksim Shatskikh.
Uzbekistan, the best-performing side in the earlier two rounds, are rooted to the bottom of Group 1 with two defeats from their opening two matches in round four.
The win puts Australia second behind Qatar, who take on Bahrain in Doha later on Wednesday, while Group 2 rivals UAE and Saudi Arabia meet in Abu Dhabi.
The top two in the two groups that make up the fourth round of Asian qualifying earn places in the 2010 finals in South Africa, with another spot available to the fifth-placed team if they can overcome Oceania champions New Zealand in a playoff.
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