FIFA president Michel Platini told a news conference on Saturday the decision was taken in a bid to keep politics out of sport.
Platini said the executive committee wanted to ensure there was no repeat of the situation that arose when Armenia and Azerbaijan were drawn in the same qualifying group for the Euro 2008 finals but refused to play against each other.
"The executive committee decided that Russia and Georgia should not be in the same group, or Armenia or Azerbaijan. So if that happens in the draw, we will draw again.
"During the qualifiers for Euro 2008 Armenia and Azerbaijan found themselves in the same group and these two matches were deleted as they decided not to play against each other.
"Now we have decided to avoid that possibility and not have the problems that would arise if they were in the same group."
Asked if UEFA were creating a dangerous precedent by allowing politics to interfere in a sporting decision, he replied: "We took this decision because we don't want sport to mix with politics.
"In this way we are avoiding any political problems regarding those countries. We don't want to interfere in their politics and I believe the executive committee took the right decision."
North and South Korea have met in World Cup qualifiers and both have reached this year's World Cup finals in South Africa.
