I can see that many referees would have gotten that wrong but Al-Ghamdi saw the contact and awarded a penalty which was really gutsy. The reason it was a penalty and not an indirect free kick was because there was contact with the dangerous play. If there was no contact between players then yes it would be an indirect free kick but the player from Lebanon actually kicked the Korean player in the face thus making it a careless and some might even say a reckless foul.
Everything really fell into place when the player from Lebanon was fouled in the penalty area so Al-Ghamdi was able to even it out.
A very good performance by the referee and his assistants. A Korean goal was called back for offside as well which was definitely correct. Both yellow cards were correct as well.