South Korea had yet to taste gold at this year’s Championships here, which have doubled as a Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic test event, although Lee Sang-hwa earned women’s 500 metres silver.

Kim ensured the wait would end with a fine performance in the mass start, securing victory in a time of 8min 0.79sec.

Nana Takagi of Japan would be forced to settle for the silver in 8:00.90, with the United States’ Heather Bergsma clocking 8:01.36 to round off the podium.

Bergsma ended the Championships with two golds and one bronze, with the American adding to her 1,000m title in the 1,500m event.

The 27-year-old crossed the line in a time of 1:54.08 to take the victory in the final pairing of the competition.

She had skated against The Netherlands’ Ireen Wüst, with the 3,000m champion doing enough to take silver after ending 0.11 seconds off the pace.

Takagi secured bronze by finishing the event in 1:55.12.

Victory in the men’s mass start was earned by the United States’ Joey Mantia, who achieved a time of 7:40.16 over the 16 laps of the rink.

France’s Alexis Contin was just off the pace in 7:41.11, while there was a further gap of six seconds to the bronze medallist Olivier Jean of Canada.

The Netherlands, who have been the dominant force at the Championships, would secure their eighth gold medal.

Kjeld Nuis sealed the men’s 1,500m title, with the newly crowned 1,000m champion ending in a time of 1:44.36.

Russia’s Denis Yuskov and fellow Dutchman Sven Kramer completed the podium in times of 1:44.67 and 1:45.50 respectively.