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A woman accused of murdering her two children and hiding their remains in suitcases is being tried in New Zealand, in a high-profile case that has shocked the country.<\/p>\n
Hakyung Lee, who was extradited from South Korea to New Zealand in November 2022, has pleaded not guilty to two charges of murder.<\/p>\n
The remains of her children were discovered in suitcases by a family who had purchased the contents of an abandoned storage unit at an auction in Auckland.<\/p>\n
The bodies were believed to have been stored there for several years. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The trial opened on Monday and is expected to last up to four weeks. The prosecution will open arguments on Tuesday, according to local media. <\/p>\n
Given the public attention the case has received, the judge told the jury that Ms Lee’s guilt or innocence must be determined based on facts.<\/p>\n
Justice Geoffrey Venning added that it’s also likely that the case will be determined “whether, at the time the children were killed, Ms Lee was insane”.<\/p>\n
Ms Lee, 44, will represent herself in court with two court-appointed lawyers acting as stand-by counsel. She remained silent when asked to enter a plea on Monday. <\/p>\n
A New Zealand national who was born in South Korea, Ms Lee lived in Auckland for several years before she returned to South Korea in 2018.<\/p>\n
The year before – 2017 – the children’s father died of cancer. And the two children, aged six and eight, died some time after that, though it is not known when exactly. <\/p>\n
Their bodies then discovered in August 2022 after a family bought a trailer load of goods, including the suitcases, in an online auction.<\/p>\n
Local media reported that the sale was part of an effort to clear abandoned items from a storage unit.<\/p>\n
Police said the buyers had no connection to the deaths.<\/p>\n
Ms Lee was arrested in Ulsan, South Korea in September 2022 after Interpol issued a global red notice for her. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n