The Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) confirmed that a female relative of two deceased children—whose bodies were found in suitcases in Auckland—had arrived in South Korea in 2018 and there was no record of her leaving the country since then.
“We confirm that she is in South Korea and that she is a New Zealand national of Korean descent,” an official at the Korean National Police Agency said. She was arrested in connection to the discovery of the deceased children after global police agency Interpol issued a red notice, said KNPA. She was discovered “hiding” in an apartment in Ulsan after first moving there four years ago.
“The suspect is accused by the New Zealand police of having murdered her two children—aged seven and 10 at the time—in around 2018 in the Auckland area. She's been found to have arrived in South Korea after the crime and has been in hiding ever since,” said KNPA in a statement.
The woman is 42 years of age but has not been identified. It is also unclear if she is the mother of the deceased children. Images of the 42-year-old began to circulate in the media after South Korean police detained her in the southeastern port city of Ulsan. She was seen wearing ripped jeans and sandals as she was being transported to the prosecutors’ office.
When asked by local media if she would confess to the children’s murders, she said, “I didn’t do it,” repeatedly and kept the hood of her sweatshirt pulled over her face.
The Seoul High Court granted an extradition arrest for the woman, but an extradition review still needs to be conducted by South Korean officials.
The bodies of the two children were found after a family unwittingly auctioned to buy a storage unit filled with items. One of these items was a suitcase with the two children’s remains. The suitcase had been at the storage facility for “several years,” The Daily Mail reports, which has complicated the police’s investigation.
Auckland’s Detective Inspector Tofilau Fa’amanuia Vaaelua said the case was a “very challenging investigation.” The children have been identified, but their identities cannot be released.
“This is a matter that needs to be resolved. The story of what happened to those young children needs to be told and I'm hopeful that that will happen soon,” said Daniel Newman, who is an Auckland councilor.
“It was an appalling situation that took place and it was a great slight on the family and the community of Clendon [Park]. So I'm very very hopeful that this matter will be brought to a speedy conclusion because people need closure and our community needs to move on,” Newman added.
The woman apparently suffered from depression after her husband died in 2017. The Korean Society of New Zealand has promised support for the 42-year-old if she is extradited.