A Kim Jong Un impersonator, who is in Vietnam in time for the Trump-Kim summit that will take place later this week, has been escorted by authorities to the airport to be deported.
The man, using the name Howard X, was told by Vietnamese immigration officials that his visa “was invalid,” but that they did not elaborate further, according to AFP. He will be sent back to Hong Kong, his city of residence.
“I was born with a face looking like Kim Jong Un, that’s the real crime,” he told AFP as he got into a van headed for the airport.
The Kim lookalike arrived in Hanoi with Trump impersonator Russell White, who is from Canada, last week. Channel News Asia reported that the pair staged a fake summit outside the capital’s Opera House before a sea of reporters and security personnel.
White will be allowed to stay in the capital but has been warned not to make public appearances in his costume.
“Satire is a powerful weapon against any dictatorship. They are scared of a couple of guys that look like the real thing,” Howard X said to AFP.
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will meet for a summit in the Vietnam capital on Feb. 27 and Feb. 28, a follow-up to their first dialogue in Singapore last June.
The initial meeting yielded little result, with Pyongyang continuing to build its nuclear arsenal and the U.S. not relaxing its sanctions. Trump, however, stated that the two leaders have “established a very good relationship.”
Hanoi has called itself the “City of Peace” ahead of the summit, with tight security deployed across the capital and several state buildings receiving hurried refurbishments, AFP reports.
