Longing for their leader, North Korean athletes hold special gathering at Asian Games

North Korea’s Jong Hak-jin runs with his national flag after winning gold in the men’s freestyle 57kg contest at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) (The Associated Press)

North Korean supporters cheer with their national flag during the medal ceremony for the men’s freestyle 57kg contest where compatriot Jong Hak-jin won the gold at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) (The Associated Press)

North Korea's athletes at the Asian Games, reportedly feeling homesick while competing in South Korea, have held a special "longing for the leader" gathering to express how much they miss their homeland.

The gathering Saturday featured songs and poems praising leader Kim Jong Un, according to the North's Korean Central News Agency.

The report said that at the gathering, called an "Evening longing for respected Marshal Kim Jong Un Kim," Sports Minister Kim Yong Hun said that while they have only been away from the leader for about a week, "the minds of all members of the delegation and players are running to him, whom they long to see, awake or asleep."