The other Kim
In a shopping district of Hong Kong, a woman turns to look at an unlikely scene – the spitting image of the North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un standing and chatting on his mobile phone.
Though the physical similarity is striking, this man is not Kim, but a 34-year-old Australian-Chinese musician named Howard, who is cashing in on his resemblance to the dictator to earn money as an impersonator.
Before: Howard poses for a photograph before being made up to look like the North Korean leader.
After: Howard poses again, after his transformation.
Howard is given a haircut in the style of Kim Jong Un.
He checks the North Korean leader's eyebrows in a photo.
Make-up is applied to make Howard look more like the dictator.
His transformation complete, Howard poses with a journalist on a street in Hong Kong's Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district.
He stands by the waterfront, dressed as Kim Jong Un.
A man takes a photo as Howard walks down a Hong Kong street.
Howard smiles as he poses for a picture.
He visits a luxury boutique in his get-up.
He stands on a street in Hong Kong, looking exactly like the North Korean leader.
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Seeing double: Kim Jong Un lookalike turns heads in Hong Kong
A haircut and some makeup was all it took for a Hong Kong musician to transform himself into one of the world's most notorious dictators, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
When Kim inherited power from his dead father, friends teased the Australian-Chinese musician about his resemblance to the world's youngest leader.
"We joked back and forth 'Maybe I should get dressed up and do some gigs with it'. After all, I'm a musician, so it's about the performance," said Howard, who declined to give his surname in order to keep his music and impersonation careers separate.
He turned heads and drew giggles this week when he paraded down the streets of a popular shopping district in Hong Kong. During the arranged media shoot, he jokingly waved at wide-eyed passersby and posed with a pornographic magazine for photos.
"Is he the real one or is he just impersonating? I can't tell them apart. He really looks like him," said Hong Kong resident Ada Ho.
At 34, Howard is older and taller than 30-year-old Kim, but they share many facial similarities. Howard has bushier eyebrows and weighs less, but he joked that he would work on that.
On April Fools' Day, the drummer-turned-music producer chopped off his hair and, realising he could make something out of the resemblance, set up a Facebook page.
Within weeks, an Israeli production company contacted him and flew him to Tel Aviv for a hamburger commercial to rival a competitor's ad that featured an impersonator of U.S. President Barack Obama.
The clip, in which the imitation Kim abandons his plan to bomb Israel after enjoying its delicious burgers, got 400,000 online views in a country of 8 million people, Howard said.
Then came more job requests. Howard said he was asked to do an ad for a pistachio company with Dennis Rodman, a retired professional basketball player who calls the reclusive North Korean leader his friend, but the plan fell apart when he could not get his U.S. work visa in time.
Howard, who charges HK$5,000 ($645) for party appearances, said being a Kim doppelganger can be a funny experience but he also hopes to stir up dialogue about North Korea and its human rights issues.
"I don't really have to do anything to create awareness. Just my presence," he said. "It brings the issue up in a light-hearted way. It's important to know about this country ... If they launch a missile, it could start World War Three."
