Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump look-alikes were arrested and interrogated by police after holding a "meeting" in Hanoi on Friday, where the US president and the North Korean leader are due to visit their second summit next week.
While Kim's impersonator, Howard X, and Donald Trump's Russell White, staged their own "summit" in the center of the Vietnamese capital, a dozen policemen showed up at a television station. local where the two men gave an interview, enjoining them to stop their appearances before the media on pain of being expelled.
"They just said" stop these imitations or we'll kick you out of the country, "Howard X, a Hong Kong resident told AFP after the end of his interrogation, returned to his hotel.
The police told them that they could only move to Hanoi following a pre-established itinerary and in the company of a guide.
Howard X insisted that he had legally entered Vietnam and would only leave if forced to do so by force.
The two imitators appeared on Friday at the Metropole Hotel and at the opera, where they were surrounded by a swarm of journalists.
"We are working for peace. Through negotiations, through dialogue, we of course want to help North Korea, "said Russell White, the Donald Trump look-alike, with an exaggerated tan and sloppy hair.
He added that his talks with his "counterpart" aimed to limit North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
Before the police warning, the two men planned to go to a massage parlor, play a game of golf and taste the culinary delights of Hanoi. But local authorities, who want to avoid any missteps at this highly anticipated summit, may not allow them to continue their show.
The leaders of this former communist country do not tolerate spontaneous public gatherings, which explains why the police forces have closely followed their every move.
Howard X had already encountered problems in June when he appeared in Singapore before the first Trump-Kim summit: he was detained during security checks at the airport and he was told to stay away from where the summit was taking place. He had, however, been allowed to enter the city-state.
The two imitators also claim to be looking for new look-alikes to complete their band of "tyrants". They are looking for accomplices who can slip into the shoes of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping or Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.