While Brazil dominated possession and were clearly the better side throughout, the North were by no means disgraced in their first appearance at the finals since reaching the last eight in England 44 years ago.
In a performance that was more gritty than pretty, North Korea held the five-times world champions goalless in the first half before two defensive lapses saw them fall 2-0 behind midway through the second before a stunning consolation effort brought some cheer.
"The mood in the dressing room is fine, we're not disappointed because we still have hope," he told Reuters after the game.
"We know we did very well against a strong team like Brazil and we said to ourselves 'let's just keep it going in the other two games'.
"Portugal and Ivory Coast will be strong opponents but we're going to do better against them."
"As a coach, when one of my players scores a goal against such a strong team as Brazil, well, it was something I was very happy with," the coach told a news conference.
"Our ultimate objective was to win but I was happy because regardless of the result we played well and scored a goal. I was very proud of the players."
