Chinese President Xi Jinping (center), Russian President Vladimir Putin (left), and North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un (right) moving for a military parade. UPI Yonhap News. 

Reuters reported on the 6th (local time) that it had deleted a video of a conversation about eternal life between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin during a military parade held in Beijing, China.

According to Reuters, the video captured a conversation between Xi and Putin on the 3rd about organ transplantation and immortality that was picked up by a 'hot mic'.

A hot mic refers to a situation where celebrities unknowingly engage in private conversations when a microphone is on during official events, leading to unintended public disclosure and embarrassment.

It is reported that Putin stated that human organs could be continuously transplanted and that immortality could be achieved by living longer, while moving to the Tiananmen Gate Tower to watch the military parade. Xi reportedly replied that there are predictions that humans could live up to 150 years old.

Reuters obtained the video with permission from China Central Television (CCTV), China's state broadcaster, which was live-streaming the event that day, and edited it into a 4-minute clip, distributing it to over 1,000 media clients worldwide.

Subsequently, as related reports followed, the secret conversation between Xi, born in June 1953, and Putin, born in October 1952, became widely known.

However, on the 5th, CCTV informed Reuters that "the remarks were clearly misinterpreted due to editing" and demanded the deletion of the video, revoking its usage permission.

Reuters subsequently deleted the video and informed its clients to do the same.

However, regarding the criticism of distortion due to editing, Reuters countered, "We are confident in the accuracy of our reporting" and "After a careful review of the released video, we found no grounds to believe that Reuters' principles of accurate and unbiased journalism were compromised."

According to Reuters, both CCTV and the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment on the matter.

Yonhap News