Six months after the Sewol Ferry sank in South Korea, a victim's body was discovered inside the wreckage on Tuesday, according to CNN.

It took one day to pull the body up to the surface, but the female has since been identified as Ji-hyeon, a high school student who had a birthday approaching.

Ji-hyeon's parents, Hwang In-yeol and Shim Myeong-seop, reportedly lost their only child in the Sewol ferry tragedy in April and had to wait nearly seven months to see their daughter's body, according to the Associated Press. Hwang and Shim reportedly held a party for their daughter's 18th birthday at a gym on the southwestern island of Jindo, where they have been staying since April 16 so they can be closer to the searches.

"The saddest birthday party on earth," read a headline in the Hankyoreh newspaper.

"Please wait peacefully for me in heaven. Daddy will follow you soon," Hwang was reportedly quoted as saying.

According to the Korean media outlet, Ji-hyeon's parents offered a bowl of rice, rice cakes, soup and pizza at the party, which was also attended by family members of the nine other missing people.

"It was a great help because so many people congratulated us on our daughter's birthday," stated Ji-hyeon's father.

The teenager's body was reportedly airlifted to her hometown of Ansan, just south of Seoul, on Thursday for the funeral, according to Jang Kil-hwan, the director of volunteers on Jindo Island. Shim reportedly walked up to a lighthouse at the island's Paengmok port and threw a few spoonfuls of rice into the sea during their months-long vigil, calling it her daughter's breakfast along with a prayer that divers would find Ji-hyeon's body soon.

"Ji-hyeon had a talent for painting. She was also studying Chinese with the goal of becoming a translator," Hwang had told the Associated Press.

He continued, "But I wish I knew more about my daughter than I do now."