It's been nearly seven months since the Sewol ferry accident, in which a ferry heading to the holiday island of Jeju capsized in South Korea capsized, killing 304 people out of the 476 people that were on board, according to ABC News.

Authorities in South Korea reportedly stated they were calling off the recovery operation around the sunken ferry that had been launched to find the bodies that were missing after the accident, according to the Washington Post.

A total of 295 bodies have reportedly been found, and divers had continued to search for the nine passengers who remain missing.

"The government deployed as many resources as possible to bring the last missing person to the families. But the situation in the ship has become too difficult for search operations to continue," stated Lee Ju-young, Minister of Oceans and Fisheries.

The 68-year-old captain responsible for the ferry accident in South Korea was reportedly sentenced on Tuesday to 36 years in prison for willful negligence and dereliction of duty. The ferry's chief engineer reportedly received a 30-year sentence while thirteen of the other crew members were sentenced to five to 20 years in prison.

Although captain Lee Joon-Seok had reportedly stated that he was unaware that his abandonment would lead to so many deaths, South Korea's citizens and the many families affected by the accident feel differently.

"This is regrettable. Even if the captain didn't directly kill then, he knew they'd all die," stated 24-year-old Joo-Hee Park.

Jin Lee added, "If you think of his age, 36 years in prison is no different from death penalty. He deserved it."

Although months have passed since the ferry accident, people in South Korea are still suffering from the tragedy.

"The Sewol disaster has been a mass trauma for people in Korea. Its impact is large, especially because it was preventable, man-made disaster. It wasn't an uncontrollable natural disaster," stated Keum-joo Kwak, professor of psychology at Seoul National University.