Surprised Singaporeans pursued North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Sunday (May 27) before realising the portly man with slick black hair near the Marina Bay Sands hotel was an impersonator.
The Australian-Chinese man posing as the North Korean leader called himself Howard X, and said he was appearing to wish a successful summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump to negotiate an end to the North's nuclear programme.
Tourists near Singapore's Merlion shook hands and took selfies with Howard, some thinking he could really be the North Korean leader.
Howard X also made an appearance as Kim at the Winter Olympics in Gangneung in South Korea in February, bewildering North Korean cheerleaders who initially thought their leader had walked into a hockey stadium.
Trump signalled that preparations for a June 12 summit with Kim were going ahead, despite having called it off last week, and a White House team was scheduled to depart for Singapore this weekend to prepare for the possible summit. (Reuters)