Funeral service employees arrange memorial tablets and portraits of victims from the sinking of the ferry Sewol, at the official memorial altar at Hwarang Park in Ansan, South Korea, April 29, 2014.WOOHAE CHO/The New York Times
South Korea says it will end underwater searches for the remaining missing people from April's ferry disaster.
Tuesday's announcement comes hours before a South Korea court is to issue verdicts on crew members charged with negligence and abandonment of passengers in the disaster.
About seven months after the ferry Sewol sank on a trip to a resort island, 295 bodies have been retrieved but nine people are still missing. Most of the dead were teenage students on a school trip.
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Lee Ju-young told a televised news conference there is only a remote chance of finding the missing bodies. He says the searches will stop as of Tuesday.
Prosecutors have demanded a death penalty for the ship's captain and life sentences for three other crew members.