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Kim Jong-un lookalike spotted at Olympic closing ceremony waving rainbow flag

'Two North Korean delegates with DPRK tracksuits walked passed me and were totally shocked,' says the impersonator

Maya Oppenheim
Monday 22 August 2016 13:51 BST
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Some members of the crowd grew confused when they noticed him in the crowd
Some members of the crowd grew confused when they noticed him in the crowd (Getty Images)

Although it is difficult to ever be totally sure about what goes on in the hermit kingdom, there is believed to be a de facto ban on homosexuality in North Korea.

Nevertheless, this did not stop Kim Jong-un's doppleganger proudly brandishing a rainbow flag at the Olympic closing ceremony.

The man who was impersonating the supreme leader was spotted by cameras and members of the crowd waving a North Korean flag in one hand and a rainbow flag in the other.

As you would guess, some members of the crowd became rather confused after they laid eyes on him.

Writing in a post on his Facebook, the impersonator said: “After the IOC president made his speech, two North Korean delegates with DPRK tracksuits walked passed me and were totally shocked when they saw me waving the North Korea and LGBT flag. They chatted for about 10 seconds before one of them came up to me and shook my hand.”

“I said hello in Korean and the confused expression of on these men's faces were absolutely priceless! They then left in confusion to process what they had just witnessed.”

The lookalike, who goes by the stage name “Kim Jong-um”, has been professionally posing as the leader of the world’s most secretive and isolated regime since April 2013.

Despite the authoritarian, closed nature of the country, North Korean athletes have competed in every Summer Olympics since 1972, except for two which it boycotted - the 1984 games in Los Angeles and the 1988 games in Seoul. The Washington Post reported that in the past North Korean athletes have been banned from visiting tourist sights and mixing with competitors from other countries.

North Korea won two gold medals at the Rio Olympics this year.

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