In the quarterfinals on Sunday, Korea will face Iraq which defeated Paraguay in the round of 16 tournament.
At Huseyn Avni Aker Stadium in Trabzon on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey, Korea beat Colombia 8-7 in the thrilling penalty shoot-out after ending the regulation and 30-minute extra time tied at 1-1.
Other countries joining the quarterfinals are France, Spain, Chile, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Ghana.
Wednesday's victory marks Korea‘s first advancement to the quarterfinals in the biennial FIFA Under-20 World Cup since 2009, and fourth appearance in total.
In the penalty shoot-out, defensive back Song Ju-hun, Korea's second kicker, fired over the bar, but goalie Lee Chang-geun offset the loss by denying Colombia’s third kicker, Felipe Aguilar.
When it was 8-7 for Korea, Deivy Balanta missed his shot to give the Koreans a much-awaited ticket to the quarterfinals.
In the regulation, Song scored a goal 16 minute into the first half. The equalizer came in the fourth minute of injury time when Juan Quintero knotted the score with a free kick.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com