BEIJING (AP) -- For 14 players on South Korea's baseball team, securing an Olympic medal means more than just shiny neckwear to show off back home. It means they won't have to report for military duty next year.
"Good news!" manager Kim Kyung-moon said after his team beat the favored Japanese 6-2 on Friday to reach the gold-medal game and stay unbeaten in an impressive run that has turned into the biggest surprise of this tournament.
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After the game, coach Kim Ki-tai took a few bows. Designated hitter Lee Dae-ho and right fielder Lee Yong-kyu knelt together for several minutes along the first-base line, not wanting to rush this special moment, their teammates cheering and hugging around them. Players waved and tipped their caps to cheering fans some 20 feet away outside a fence near the team bus.
By law, South Korea exempts male athletes who take any medal in the Olympics from the approximately two years of mandatory military service, according to Kwak Yu-seok, an official at the Military Manpower Administration in Seoul. The country also gives such benefits to those who obtain gold medals in the Asian Games.
The incentive certainly seems to have worked in Beijing.
"I don't have to go to the military and neither do 13 others," overjoyed pitcher Song Seung-jin said as the 29-year-old frantically signed autographs. "I'm very happy for our team. It's just very exciting. ... Now, I can play for the rest of my life."
So much for Japan, Cuba and the United States being shoo-ins to finish 1-2-3.
South Korea, which beat Japan for bronze in Sydney eight years ago, has been the most consistent team here and will try to become the first team to go undefeated on the way to gold since Cuba did it in 1992 and again in '96.
"I hope our good luck stays with us for the rest of the tournament," Kim said.
The South Koreans (8-0) will play Saturday night at Wukesong Stadium against the winner of Friday's late semifinal between defending Olympic champion Cuba and the United States.
Slugger Lee Seung-yuop hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in his team's four-run eighth inning as South Korea came back from an early two-run deficit. Kim praised his cleanup hitter for coming through after putting pressure on himself in other games here.
"To be honest, I was a little bit worried when Japan took the early lead," Kim said. "As the manager, I have to maintain my confidence and will to fight or my team will sense I'm giving up. When we tied the score, the atmosphere changed."
Japan reliever Hitoki Iwase allowed a leadoff single to Lee Yong-kyu to start the eighth and quickly received a visit from manager Senichi Hoshino.
After Iwase struck out Kim Hyun-soo, Lee Seung-yuop delivered the South Koreans' most timely hit yet.
The Japanese will play Saturday morning for bronze.
Questioned why he stayed with Iwase, Hoshino shouldered some of the blame.
"This is my way of doing business," he said. "In doing so, I think I did the Korean team a favor. ... Of course there are reasons for the loss today. It's meaningless to talk about them now. I don't like to talk about the what-ifs."
Yoon Suk-min pitched a perfect ninth and met catcher Kang Min-ho between the mound and home plate for a celebratory embrace. Their teammates weren't far behind.
Not even two piles of good-luck salts by the Japanese dugout were enough on this day when fans from both sides rocked the stands with songs and chants, banging Thunderstix and waving flags.
Kim Dong-joo followed the home run with a single, then scored a key insurance run when left fielder Akihiro Sato dropped a routine fly by Lee Dae-ho. One out later, Kang Min-ho doubled in another run.
Pinch-hitter Lee Jin-young hit a tying RBI single off Kyuji Fujikawa with two outs in the seventh. Lee Dae-ho drew a one-out walk and Jeong Keun-woo entered as a pinch-runner, then pumped his right arm and cheered after sliding safely into home for the tying run.
Japan (4-4) was widely considered the favorite entering the tournament, but it dropped its opener to Cuba and also lost 5-3 to the South Koreans in preliminary play.
Japan wanted nothing more than to add a gold medal to its list after beating Cuba for the inaugural World Baseball Classic title two years ago. This is baseball's last hurrah in the Olympics at least until 2016, if the sport gets reinstated at all.
"Before the games, all the fans expected us to win an Olympic gold medal in baseball," infielder Shinya Miyamoto said. "I'm very sorry we didn't do that. Their will was stronger than ours today."