Eunju Kim, who escaped starvation in North Korea in 1999, and Gyuri Kang, who fled the North during the COVID-19 pandemic, have made an emotional plea to the United Nations

He vows to punish as criminals those responsible for the failure, in which the ship had its hull torn open and ended up on its side in the water.

North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un said a new naval destroyer was damaged in a "serious accident and criminal act caused by absolute carelessness."