Burrows arrived at the Dhyan Chand National Stadium confident he had shrugged off the calf injury sustained late in the loss to the Dutch two days earlier and would be fit to play.
But by the time the pre-match warm-up was completed, a distraught Burrows ruled himself out and handed the captain's armband to Dean Couzins and a place on the bench to late arrival Joseph Bartholomew.
"In the scheme of things it was a big blow as much of our game plan centres around Phil and what he brings to the team," said Black Sticks coach Shane McLeod.
"Losing a player with his experience puts added pressure on the younger players but overall I think they responded well."
Within three minutes of the start of a game both teams eyed as "must win", New Zealand won a penalty corner following a bad Korean tackle outside the circle.
From a well-rehearsed play, drag-flick exponent Andy Hayward delivered and was able to celebrate his first goal of the tournament and, more importantly, a vital early lead for his team.
Just as quickly, there was another scare for the New Zealand camp as midfielder Shea McAleese limped off but after a time-out, he recovered and returned as the Black Sticks went in search of a second goal.
New Zealand's attacking endeavours were eventually rewarded in the 22nd minute when a shot from Priyesh Bhana was blocked by a Korean foot in the goalmouth. The stroke quickly awarded and just as quickly pushed home by Couzins despite the goalkeeper anticipating well in thrusting himself in the right direction.
Down, but certainly not out, the Koreans pressed forward and forced the New Zealanders to drop deep in defence to counter their opponent's short-passing game.
After having a goal disallowed, a call by the video umpire, New Zealand held on and went to the break still 2-0 ahead.
The Koreans dominated for long periods in the second spell, forced six penalty corners to none, but a combination of poor execution and some nifty work from Pontifex denied them.
While on the back foot for much of the spell, New Zealand did create a couple of clear-cut scoring opportunities but Nick Wilson, after a great ball from man of the match Ryan Archibald, and Nick Haig, in a similar break away, were wide and over the top when they should have been on target.
As the clock wound down, the Koreans mounted a last attack, won a penalty stroke which, with 23secs to play, Nam Yong Lee converted.
It was a cruel blow for Pontifex who had pulled off a couple of crucial saves and deserved to walk away with a clean sheet.
"We have to score those goals we missed in the second half," admitted McLeod.
"In big games you don't get that many opportunities and when they come you have to take them.
"Again, I feel we can do better. In the past we have often started strongly and then petered out. Maybe this time we are doing it in reverse and will get better with each game. I certainly hope so.
"In some areas I felt we were better today than we had been against Canada and the Netherlands but we have to continue improving. We know Argentina will be more structured than the Koreas which should help."
Archibald was again the standout and deserved his reward.
Couzins, who combined well with Blair Hopping and had a good understanding with Pontifex, won the aptly named "Man of Steel" award handed to the best defender in each game.
For a 35 minutes of the second match of the day, New Zealand's hopes rose even higher as underdogs Canada held group leaders Holland scoreless. But, after turning 0-0, the floodgates opened in the second half as the Dutch ran away to win 6-0.
Drag flick expert Taeke Taekema scored first and last for his team with four field goals in between ensuring a three-from-three record and still the lead. Their game with Germany (early Monday morning NZ time) should decide the group while New Zealand's hopes rest on beating Argentina (also on Monday) before their last group match with the Germans on Wednesday morning.
In the last match of the night, Germany overcame some anxious moments before edging point-less Argentina 4-3 to slip ahead of New Zealand into second place.
The Germans led early, Argentina got back to 1-1 but after that were forced to play catch-up. They had a late chance to equalise but just missed. Had they scored and finished 4-4, the Black Sticks would have ended the round in second rather than third place.
