hankyoreh

North Korea held South Korea to a scoreless draw Wednesday in an Asian World Cup qualifier at the neutral venue of Shanghai, China, keeping the Cold War rivalry alive on the pitch.

The divided Koreas exchanged heavy fire and counterattacks throughout the match at Hongkou Stadium as their top players showcased their speed and power to knock their opponents out.

The regional qualifier for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa came after North Korea refused to allow South Korea to raise its national flag and play its national anthem at the initial venue, Pyongyang.

As the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty, the North had balked at the idea of the South using its national symbols in the heart of the communist state. The two Koreas do not officially recognize each other as full political entities, despite a recent thaw in relations.

The rejection prompted the world soccer governing body FIFA to order that the venue be shifted to Shanghai.

During the first half of the match, North Korean midfielder Hong Yong-jo nearly stunned the South Korean squad when he rifled a powerful mid-range shot in the 27th minute that went wide of the right post.

South Korea returned a similar threat in the 60th minute when Kim Do-hyun, who is with with England's West Bromwich Albion, launched an impressive ground shot that was stopped by the hunching North Korean goalie, Ri Myong-guk.

Seol Ki-hyeon, summoned from the English Premier League club Fulham, also came close to breaking the stalemate two minutes into the second half when he rushed into the penalty area and nearly deflected a lob pass into the North Korean net with his right foot.

The North's top striker, Jong Tae-se, also had his chance to claim a goal in the 66th minute when he possessed the ball over the penalty spot and fired a shot that flew off the pitch after hitting South Korea's charging goalie, Jung Sung-ryong.

South Korea summoned three of its English Premier League players, including Park Ji-sung of Manchester United and Lee Young-pyo of Tottenham Hotspur, for the match while North Korea sought to stun its opponent with its regular target man, Jong.

Jong, who plays for Japan's professional Kawasaki Frontale club and is nicknamed "North Korean Wayne Rooney" among the Seoul press for his speed and agility, scored an equalizer to hold South Korea to a 1-1 draw in an East Asian derby on Feb. 22 in China.

South Korea, which ranks 47th in the world and seeks its seventh straight ticket for the World Cup finals, now has a record of five wins, five ties and one loss against the North. It is headed by manager Huh Jung-moo.

North Korea, led by head coach Kim Jong-hun, has not appeared in the World Cup since 1966 -- when it reached the quarterfinals of the tournament in England -- and stands 126th in the FIFA rankings.

The two Koreas are drawn in Asian Group C with Turkmenistan and Jordan for the third qualifying round. South Korea thrashed Turkmenistan 4-0 on Feb. 7 in the opener while North Korea defeated Jordan 1-0, heightening the hopes for the two divided states to reach the World Cup finals.

Asia has been allotted 4.5 tickets for the 2010 tournament.

Five groups of four teams are competing in the third Asian qualifying round, and only two from each group will advance to the next and final round.

After the ten winners are split into two final-round groups, two teams from each group will receive World Cup tickets, while the fifth will play a top-seeded squad from Oceania for the last remaining berth.

FIFA rules stipulate that countries participating in World Cup matches should be able to use their national flags and anthems. No punitive action has been taken against North Korea, while the national anthems and flags of both countries were used during the Shanghai match.

SHANGHAI, China, March 26 (Yonhap)