Against the odds, having had almost no time at all to practice together before the tournament, Jang and Cha won their semi-final in the Platinum World Tour event 6-11, 11-5, 14-16, 11-6, 11-4 against Chinese Taipei's number four seeds Chen Chien-An and Cheng I-Ching, in Daejeon’s Chungmu Sports Arena.

It marks the third time this season that Chien-An and I-Ching have lost to pairs from the Korean peninsula.

In the final, which will take place tomorrow at 3pm local time, the Koreans will face the Chinese pair of Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha, who beat another Chinese team of Lim Jonghoon and Yang Haeun in the semi-finals, 11-9, 12-14, 11-9, 11-6.

A unified Korean pair also won this morning in the men's doubles.

Lee Sangsu from the South and Pak Sin Hyok from the North, who were the fifth seeds, won their quarter-final 11-9, 13-11, 3-11, 4-11, 11-7 against China’s Liang Jinkun and Yan An.

They were unable to match the feat achieved by the mixed pair, however, falling to an 11-9, 11-9, 11-8 defeat to top seeds Ho Kwan Kit and Wong Chun Ting of Hong Kong in the semi-finals.

Lee said they had played "too safely" during the third and fourth games of their quarter final.

"We played very well at first but we played too safely in the middle of the match," he said.

"After two-two, our coaches advised us to play more aggressively, even if it meant we lost.

"We did as the coaches said; that led us to the win."

North and South Korea have teamed up at the event in the latest example of the "Ping Pong diplomacy" peace effort.