Ministry of Justice, Extradition of Suspect in 'New Zealand Bagged Child Corpse' Case

Ministry of Justice Provides 'Key Evidence' in Case to New Zealand
New Zealand Police Identify 'Biological Mother' as Prime Suspect

A woman in her 40s, identified as suspect A in the 'child's body found in a bag' case in New Zealand, is leaving the building to be transferred to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] Lee, a New Zealand woman of Korean descent who was identified as a suspect in the "child corpse in a bag case" that occurred in New Zealand, has been extradited back to New Zealand.

The Ministry of Justice announced on the 29th that Lee, who was indicted by the New Zealand court in connection with the case where two child corpses were found in a bag stored in a warehouse in Auckland, New Zealand, was handed over to New Zealand authorities at Incheon International Airport.

The Ministry of Justice explained that along with the extradition, they simultaneously carried out a "two-track international cooperation" of criminal extradition and criminal justice cooperation by immediately securing and providing important evidence to New Zealand at their request.

When the New Zealand police discovered the bodies of two children inside a travel bag sold at a warehouse auction in August this year, they launched a murder investigation. The local police identified Lee, known as the biological mother of the deceased children, as the prime suspect and pursued her.

Lee is suspected of killing her two children, aged 7 and 10, around 2018 in Auckland, New Zealand. She immigrated to New Zealand and obtained local citizenship, but after the incident, she entered South Korea and lived in hiding until she was arrested in Ulsan.

After receiving a criminal extradition request from the New Zealand Ministry of Justice for Lee’s extradition, the Ministry of Justice found reasonable grounds to suspect that she committed the crime and ordered the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office to conduct an extradition review.

Accordingly, the Criminal Division 20 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Jeong Seon-jae, Kang Hyo-won, Kim Gwang-nam) approved the extradition on the 11th of this month, considering the "Consent to Criminal Extradition" submitted by Lee.

Subsequently, Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon decided to extradite Lee to New Zealand and ordered the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office to carry out the extradition. Minister Han also ordered that the evidence seized during the process of securing Lee’s custody by investigative agencies be handed over to New Zealand as well.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.