Bodies in suitcase: Police to work with South Korea authorities to extradite woman

The woman will face charges for murder in New Zealand. Photo / AP

By RNZ

Police say they will work with authorities in South Korea to facilitate the extradition of a woman wanted for the deaths of two children whose bodies were found in suitcases.

The Seoul High Court has granted the extradition request and the woman will face charges for murder in New Zealand.

Counties Manukau district crime manager Detective Inspector Tofilau Faamanuia Vaaelua said he could not comment on the specifics of the extradition process for operational reasons.

Crown Law is working on the extradition.

The South Korean Ministry of Justice said it received a “large pool of supporting evidence” from New Zealand authorities and “there is probable cause to believe that the suspect committed the extraditable crime”.

On those grounds, last month it ordered the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office to file a request for an extradition trial.

The 42-year-old woman, thought to be the mother of the two children, was arrested near Seoul in September after local police tracked her down.

She is believed to have left New Zealand and moved to Seoul in 2018.

In August, police were alerted to the discovery of human remains after a family bought the contents of an abandoned storage locker that unknowingly contained the long-dead bodies of two children, now believed to be aged seven and 10.