Vietnam detains impersonators of Kim Jong Un and Trump

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.

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.