New double-murder trial date set for Hakyung Lee, accused of killing children in Auckland

A new trial date has been set for next year for Hakyung Lee, the double-murder defendant who was extradited from South Korea in 2022 after authorities charged her with killing her primary school-aged children.

Lee, 42, had initially been set to go to trial last month.

The reasons for the adjournment cannot be revealed for legal reasons, but it can be reported that Justice Rebecca Edwards made the decision based on fair trial issues.

The defendant briefly returned to the High Court at Auckland dock today as Justice Mathew Downs announced a revised trial date of September 8, 2025. It is scheduled to last four weeks.

“To ensure that your trial proceeds as it must... your case will be before this court every two months,” Justice Downs said, explaining that the defendant will be expected to appear in person unless specifically excused for the somewhat unusual number of pre-trial hearings.

Lee remained quiet as a translator whispered into her ear throughout today’s hearing, which lasted less than five minutes.

Police descended upon a South Auckland residence in August 2022 after a family that had purchased items from an abandoned storage unit at auction made an unsettling discovery upon opening two suitcases. Inside were the remains of siblings Minu Jo, believed to have been 6 years old at the time of death, and Yuna Jo, thought to be 8.

Months later, Lee was charged with having killed both children in Manukau sometime between June 23 and June 27, 2018, meaning they would have been dead for more than four years at the time of the discovery. She was taken into custody in South Korea at the request of New Zealand law enforcement and arrived in Auckland in November 2022, pleading not guilty.

The defendant was born in Korea but obtained New Zealand citizenship after moving here. Immigration records suggest she returned to Korea in 2018.

Lee has maintained her innocence throughout the already lengthy legal process.

Hakyung Lee, accused of murdering her two children and leaving their bodies in an Auckland storage unit as she moved overseas, appears in Manukau District Court in November 2022 shortly after she was extradited from South Korea. Photo / Dean Purcell

“I didn’t do it, it’s the truth,” she said during a court outburst last year.

Lee appeared to wear the same beige overcoat in the High Court at Auckland this morning as she did in the Manukau District Court dock during her first appearance nearly a year and a half ago.

While a specific new trial date has not yet been set, it is unlikely to happen this year.

Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.