A court in South Korea on Friday approved the extradition of a woman charged with murder in New Zealand over the deaths of two children, whose bodies were found in suitcases in Auckland.
The High Court in Seoul made the decision after the 42-year-old woman gave her written consent to be extradited to New Zealand, Yonhap News Agency reported. The court has yet to confirm her extradition date.
The woman was arrested in Ulsan on Sept. 15 after New Zealand authorities requested her provisional arrest concerning the murder of two children, aged seven and 10, in Auckland in 2018. She had previously denied the charges.
The woman is believed, by New Zealand police, to be the mother of the two children.
The bodies of the children were found by a family who purchased the suitcases at an auction on Aug. 11. Police said the children may have been dead for “a number of years” while the suspect fled to South Korea.
South Korea’s authorities said the suspect was born in South Korea but holds New Zealand citizenship after her immigration. There is a record of her entry into Korea in 2018 but no record of departure. New Zealand later submitted a formal request for her extradition following the arrest.
