North Korean media has reported hundreds of thousands of North Korean citizens welcomed home their athletes returning from the Incheon Asian Games on Sunday.
 
The Korean Central Television said Monday that the athletes were greeted by their families and residents from their hometowns at a Pyongyang airport. A cultural performance was also arranged at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang to celebrate the athletes’ feat at Incheon.
 
Also at the airport were two of the three North Korean senior officials who made a rare visit to the South to attend Saturday’s closing ceremony of the Incheon Asian Games: Choe Ryong-hae, a secretary of the North's ruling Workers' Party, and Kim Yang-gon, the head of the United Front Department of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.
 
Other leaders of the regime also at the airport included Hyon Yong-chol, the minister of People’s Armed Forces, and Kim Ki-nam, a secretary of the ruling party.
 
North Korean media outlets also shed light on the win by the North’s women’s football team against Japan to win the gold medal at Incheon, stressing that the victory is a fruit of the leadership by North Korean leader Kim Jung-un.
 
North Korea finished seventh at the Incheon Asian Games with eleven gold medals. It is the first time in 12 years that the country came in the top 10 at the quadrennial event.