Craig Goodwin had put the Socceroos ahead just before half-time despite Korea Republic dominating possession, but a late miss from Mitch Duke would prove costly as his side conceded a penalty in the 94th minute.

Hwang Hee-chan powered home the spot-kick, hitting the top corner to give Mat Ryan no chance, despite him guessing the right way, and the match moved into an extra 30 minutes.

Ryan proved his worth in the first period of the extra-time with a string of fine saves, but a foul from Lewis Miller, who had given away the penalty with a similarly clumsy challenge, gave Korea Republic another opportunity on the edge of the box.

Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min stepped up to take it, and sent a curling strike past Ryan to put Korea Republic in front for the first time in the match after 104 minutes.

Things got worse for the Socceroos after the restart when Aiden O'Neill was sent off for a studs-up challenge after a VAR check, and Graham Arnold's men had no response thereafter to bow out of the competition.

Korea Republic will face Jordan in the semi-finals after the Arab nation beat Tajikistan 1-0 in its quarter-final.

"This isn't really the way we want to win matches but we were ready to battle hard," Son said after the match.

"Winning this way will help with the morale of the whole team. I was really touched by the sacrifices that everyone on the team made. Each and every one of the team deserves to be complimented."

Australia goalscorer Goodwin said: "We were one minute away from going through.

"If we had taken those chances, we could have put the game to bed but Korea is a great team with great players and we gave them some opportunities from set-pieces that we didn't need to. And when they have quality like that with Son, they punished us."