HK's Kim Jong-un Lookalike Held In Hanoi

Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump impersonators were held for questioning by Vietnamese police after they appeared in Hanoi, where the US and North Korean leaders will meet next week for a second summit.

Hong Kong resident and Kim impersonator Howard X joined Donald Trump lookalike Russell White for a 'meeting' in downtown Hanoi on Friday ahead of a second summit between the real Trump and Kim on February 27-28 in the Vietnamese capital.

About 10 police officers later showed up at a local television station where they were giving an interview, and told them to stop making media appearances or risk being deported.

"They basically said stop doing the impersonation or we will kick you out of the country," Howard X said after he was released from questioning and back at his hotel, where he believed plainclothes police were monitoring him.

The police told the pair they could only travel around the city with an approved itinerary and travel guide.

Howard X insisted he was in Vietnam legally and will not leave unless he is forced to do so.

The pair appeared with black-clad security guards at Hanoi's Metropole hotel and Opera House earlier in the day, where they were swarmed by press.

In character, Trump lookalike White said they came with an intention 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," he said, wearing heavy bronzer and with freshly gelled hair.

Full-time Kim impersonator Howard X joked that his colleague might have to look past Pyongyang's nuclear intentions in order to meet eye-to-eye.

"Hopefully he can overlook all my nuclear missiles and lift the sanctions," said Howard X, who also visited Singapore ahead of the leaders' meeting last year.

Before the police standoff, the men said they planned to visit a massage parlour, play a round of golf and maybe try some of Hanoi's culinary delights.

But they may not be allowed to do so by authorities in Vietnam, a one-party communist state hoping to pull off next week's summit without any embarrassment as the world watches. (AFP)