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SEOUL
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Match Report
The hopes of an entire nation were crushed when a second-half strike by Michael Ballack condemned Guus Hiddink's men to defeat and gave Germany their third consecutive 1-0 win.
Ballack rejoiced but his celebrations were tempered by the fact that he will not play in the final after picking up a booking.
An estimated 7m Koreans watched their heroes make their exit and the Korean players can feel proud of having gone so far in what has been a sensational World Cup campaign.
Korea exceeded all expectations by becoming the first ever Asian nation to reach the last four of the competition.
But they came unstuck against seasoned World Cup campaigners Germany, who have also surprised many to make it to their seventh final against Brazil or Turkey.
Germany started like a team that knew the terrain well. It was their 10th semi-final appearance and it showed.
Despite having to endure the jeers of a 60,000-strong partisan crowd, Germany launched the first foray into the Korean half.
Defender Carsten Ramelow, who was selected ahead of Sebastian Kehl, showed his penchant for pushing forward and fired in a low shot straight at Lee Woon-Jae.
But the expected red tidal wave of attacks soon ensued as Korea broke at speed.
Cha Doo-Ri, born in Germany and the son of South Korea's most famed striker Cha Bum-Kun, posed a threat with his electrifying pace.
His alacrity allied to the experience of veteran striker Hwang Sun-Hong troubled the German rearguard.
Indeed, Cha Doo-Ri created the Koreans' best chance of the half when his ball from the right found Lee Chun-Soo, whose first-time shot was quite magnificently palmed away by Oliver Kahn.
Kahn's superlative save further confirmed his reputation as the tournament's best goalkeeper.
Sensing that they had weathered the early storm, Germany set about peppering the Korean goal with crosses in an attempt to expose their opponents' supposed ariel deficiencies.
Miroslav Klose and Marco Bode were the target men, and both went close to breaking the deadlock but were thwarted by some resilient Korean defending, in particular by Song Chong-Gug.
We can be very proud of the boys and what they did, not just tonight, but especially in the long run at the tournament
Germany may not be the powerhouse they once were, yet their big-match experience began to show and they ended the first half in the ascendancy.
In keeping with his attack-minded tactics, Hiddink brought on Ahn Jung-Hwan for Hwang Sun-Hong and Lee Min-Sung for Choi Jin-Chul after the interval.
But they could not unlock a resolute German defence. Lee Chun-Soo tried in the 70th minute when he skipped past several defenders only to be hacked down by Ballack.
The German playmaker was cautioned but held his nerve despite knowing that he would miss the final if his side went through.
Ballack then ironically scored Germany's winner with 15 minutes remaining, firing past Lee Woon-Jae at the second attempt and ended Korea's World Cup adventure.
Germany Team
South Korea Team
Thomas Linke
Christoph Metzelder
Michael Ballack
Torsten Frings
Dietmar Hamann
Carsten Ramelow
Bernd Schneider (s) Jens Jeremies [85]
Marco Bode
Miroslav Klose (s) Oliver Bierhoff [70]
Oliver Neuville (s) Gerald Asamoah [87]
Choi Jun-Chul (s) Lee Min-Sung [56]
Hong Myung-Bo (s) Seol Ki-Hyun [80]
Kim Tae-Young
Song Chong-Gug
Lee Chun-Soo
Park Ji-Sung
Yoo Sang-Chu
Lee Young-Pyo
Cha Doo-Ri
Hwang Sun-Hong (s) Ahn Jung-Hwan [54]
Game Stats
Goals
Yellow Cards
Oliver Neuville
Red Cards
Attendance: 65,625
Officials: Urs Meier