▲ A man dressed as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un poses with a rocket-shaped plush toy in the stands during the women's football group stage match between South Korea and North Korea at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa in Fukuroi, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, on September 21.
A commotion occurred at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games women's football match between South and North Korea when a man dressed as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appeared and was stopped by police.
Appearing at Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa in Japan yesterday (September 21) with the leader's signature hairstyle and in a Mao suit, the man drew the attention of spectators and security personnel alike from the moment he entered the stadium.
As he gradually approached the North Korean cheering section, police intervened out of concern for potential clashes, and he continued to wave at the North Korean cheering squad while being escorted to another location.
The man introduced himself as Howard X from Hong Kong and stated that he planned this stunt to shatter North Korea's blind brainwashing.
"I wanted to meet North Korean people living in Japan," he claimed. "Living in Japan, they attend North Korean schools and are brainwashed by North Korea."
In response to criticisms that zainichi Koreans (ethnic Koreans in Japan) might feel insulted by the caricature of their homeland's supreme leader, he countered, "I am not insulting them; I am trying to break the mold."
"The people who saw me today will look me up on the internet and laugh," he said. "That is what we need. When you can laugh at a leader, all fear disappears."
He also previously appeared in front of the North Korean cheering squad at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
Regarding the reaction of the North Korean cheerleaders back then, he claimed, "Some reacted as if asking how I dared impersonate him, while others looked shocked. Some even laughed," adding, "This is proof that such disguises can break brainwashing."
Meanwhile, when asked if he liked his current hair after showing a photo to a local hair salon in Japan and asking them to replicate it, he replied, "It's terrible. Kim Jong Un's fashion sense is awful."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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