The Koreans twice caught the Saudis cold from free kicks, forward No Byung-jun blasting a shot through the wall to put Pohang ahead in the 57^th minute in Tokyo.

A flying header from defender Kim Hyung-il from a Kim Jae-sung delivery doubled the lead nine minutes later in the competition’s first one-off final.

Captain Mohammed Noor gave Ittihad a lifeline by volleying home in the 74^th minute but Pohang held on to become South Korea’s first Asian champions since 2006.

The four-times Korean champions, winners of the old Asian club championship twice in the late 1990s, earned a place in next month’s lucrative Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi.