A day after the a South Korean ferry carrying hundreds of people sank 11 miles off the country's coast, the Korean Entertainment industry has decided to halt programming and schedules while the search continues for the 290 missing passengers.

Shock and horror has rattled the nation as citizens mourn one of the most tragic peacetime disasters in recent South Korean history. The ferry, bound for the southern island of Jeju, sank on Wednesday carrying 475 people, including 325 students and 14 teachers from Danwon High School, only 170 of whom have been accounted for so far.

In light of recent events, many major players in the Korean entertainment industry have put their schedules on hold as rescue efforts continue.

With the majority of South Korean broadcast networks focusing on the incident and its aftermath, entertainment programming will be cancelled for at least the next few days.

Music show producers for M! Countdown and Music Bank have already announced cancellation for this week, with others such as Music Core and Inkigayo expected to follow suit.

Mnet has also canceled other entertainment programs such as M! Countdown Begins and Block B's 5 Minutes Before Chaos, a reality show focused on the K-Pop idol group.

Cable network tvN has called off broadcast for its sitcom Potato Star and will likely cancel weekend programs such as SNL Korea and Comedy Big League as further details of the tragedy unfold.

South Korea's major networks MBC and KBS are also delaying the broadcasts of several entertainment programs like Radio Star and Golden Cross, in addition to their announced cancellation of the music performance shows.

And it is not just the networks halting activities, but also many popular stars have decided to cease planned appearances and promotional activities in light of the tragic situation.

Queen of K-Pop BoA called off the premiere of her Hollywood film Make Your Move as well as all scheduled interviews due to the unfortunate circumstances.

A representative for the movie told TV Report on Wednesday, "The Make Your Move VIP premiere planned for today has been cancelled. After learning about the sunken ship incident, we deemed continuing on with the event discourteous to the bereaved families and decided to cancel it on site. BoA also canceled the upcoming planned interviews regarding the movie."

Several idol groups and singers have also rearranged schedules and postponed events in light of the ferry tragedy.

Girl group A Pink announced that they would be refraining from the planned promotional activities for their recent single release "Mr. Chu" for the time being.

Following not far behind were other groups like Block B, EXO, and MBLAQ. In addition to the postponement of their reality program, the members of Block B have decided to delay the release of their new album until further notice, whereas EXO, who recently kicked off their "Overdose" promotions, are making drastic changes to their comeback schedule and have already cancelled several interviews planned for this week. MBLAQ announced that their upcoming fan event was cancelled and the entertainment agency Core Contents Media has decided to delay the pre-promotions for T-ara member Jiyeon's teaser that was expected to be unveiled today.

As rescue efforts continue, many more stars, networks, and producers are expected to alter their schedules and activities while the entire South Korean population waits in angst for news of the hundreds still missing.