SEOUL -- Dashing previous expectations that up to 40,000 North Koreans would cheer their national soccer team on in a derby with the South, the two Koreas played the World Cup qualifier to an empty Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang on Tuesday.

The match was attended by a handful of officials but no fans, mirroring the chill in bilateral ties as North Korea takes offense at ongoing international sanctions.

The first men's international between the countries on the North's soil since a friendly in 1990 ended in a goalless draw. The game was not broadcast in South Korea.

Pyongyang had demanded $1.5 million from broadcasters in Seoul to screen the match, according to local media. International media were also barred. South Korean players had to travel via Beijing because North Korea declined to open the direct flight route that the North's athletes used for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in early 2018 -- a time when cross-border tensions were thawing.

The logistical arrangements reflect the current souring of relations between the two Koreas.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in came to office in May 2017 pledging warmer ties with the North. Relations improved, leading to three summits with Kim the following year. But North Korea, annoyed at South Korea's military exercises with the U.S. and the sanctions still placed on the reclusive country, have rebuffed further calls for talks and have tested new missiles capable of striking the South.

"Pyongyang has already attempted to shut the Moon government out of inter-Korean affairs to show its displeasure with enduring international sanctions," said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University.

Players from the South were briefed by South Korean officials to leave their smartphones and laptop computers in Beijing, as well as bring back all Nike uniforms and equipment they take into the North, in light of the sanctions.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shake hands at the truce village of Panmunjom ahead of their first summit in April 2018. Relations between the two countries have deteriorated. © Reuters

Two Korean soccer stars played in the match -- the South's Son Heung-min, a forward at Tottenham Hotspur in England, and the North's Han Kwang-song, a striker at the Italian giants, Juventus.

"We are not going to Pyongyang for a picnic. As a national team player, I will only think of the game," Son said in a news conference last week.

Sharing top spot in their qualifying group, the two sides entered the showdown at Kim Il Sung Stadium knowing the victor would move clear in the table. With only the group winners advancing to the next stage, it was a match neither side could afford to lose.

While there were no goals, two players from both sides received yellow cards, according to the Korea Football Association. Few other details of the game have yet emerged.