INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Howard X and Russell White have reportedly been threatened with deportation for
staging a "meeting" in Hanoi
Impersonators of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump have been
questioned by police in Vietnam.Kim impersonator Howard X and Trump lookalike Russell White were reprimanded after staging a "meeting" in
Hanoi.The pair have been released but told news agency AFP they were threatened with deportation.It comes a week before a scheduled US-North
Korea summit in the capital."They basically said stop doing the impersonation or we will kick you out of the country," Howard X - a Hong
Kong resident - told AFP.He and Mr White took part in a faux summit in the capital, telling reporters they intended to scale down North
Korea's nuclear ambitions."We're working toward peace
Through negotiations, with dialogue, we want to help North Korea of course," said Canada-born Mr White, dressed at US President
Trump."Hopefully he can overlook all my nuclear missiles and lift the sanctions," answered Howard X, a full-time impressionist who visited
Singapore ahead of the first US-North Korea summit last year.Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Howard X and
Russell White say police told them they could only travel around the city with an approved itinerary and escort.
The men
were later detained by police whilst giving an interview to a local TV station.According to AFP, Vietnamese police told the pair to stop
their impersonations and said they could only travel around the city with an approved itinerary and escort.Mr White and Howard X said they
are looking for other impersonators to join their band of "tyrants." They have reportedly called for lookalikes of Russian premier Vladimir
Putin, China's Xi Jinping or Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are due to meet in
Hanoi on 27-28 February for talks expected to focus on persuading the one-party Communist state to give up its nuclear weapons
programme.Their first summit in Singapore last June generated significant coverage and optimism but delivered very few concrete
developments.Both sides said they were committed to denuclearisation but gave no details of how this would be carried out or verified.
