Tears in North Korea as Kim meets footballers after historic title win

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un personally received the country’s AFC Women’s Champions League winners in Pyongyang earlier this week, embracing the players and posing for photographs with them as they wept with joy and leapt in celebration.Naegohyang Women’s FC clinched Asia’s top club title with a 1-0 defeat of Tokyo Verdy Beleza of Japan in the final in Suwon on May 23, becoming the first North Korean side to win the AFC Women’s Champions League.Kim congratulated the players on their historic achievement, state media reported, and also watched a friendly between Naegohyang and the under-17 women’s national side.Naegohyang Women’s FC players celebrate with the trophy after winning the AFC Women’s Champions League final against Tokyo Verdy Beleza in Suwon, South Korea, on May 23. Photo: EPARodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party, hailed the squad as “proud daughters of the motherland who once again powerfully displayed the spirit and mettle of the Korean people with back-to-back victories in the semi-finals and final”.