The Koreans were then frustrated in their bid for more goals as several chances were squandered and efforts by Kwak, Ji and Hwang Jae-won were cleared off the line.
The separate five-stage combat alert level, known as "Defcon, " has not changed and remains at stage 4, South Korean defense spokesman Won Tae-jae said at Thursday's briefing, according to Yonhap.
The Chinese stars, who also won Olympic gold in Sydney, are seeded fourth here but had too much quality for top seeds Lee Jae-Jin and Lee Hyo Jung in Saturday's second semi-final.