South Korea extradites luggage murder suspect to New Zealand

South Korea has extradited a woman to New Zealand to face murder charges for the deaths of two children who were found in suitcases in August, the South Korean Justice Ministry said on Tuesday.

The 42-year-old woman was handed over to New Zealand authorities at the Incheon international airport on Monday evening along with unspecified "important evidence," the ministry said.

Police arrested the woman, who has New Zealand citizenship but was born in South Korea, in the port city of Ulsan in September. She had returned to her country of birth in 2018, according to immigration records.

"With the extradition, we hope that the truth of the case, which has garnered worldwide attention, will be revealed through the fair and strict judicial process of New Zealand," the South Korean ministry said.

The arrest was made at a request from New Zealand. Her extradition was subsequently requested and granted by a South Korean court.

She told local reporters, "I didn't do it," as she was led into a police vehicle, covering her head with a brown coat.

The New Zealand Herald reported that three New Zealand police officers had traveled to South Korea to escort the suspect back, adding that she was set to appear in court on Wednesday.

Bodies stored away for years

The case made headlines after a family bought a trailer-load of abandoned items.

Among the items were suitcases in which they discovered the bodies of two children believed to have been between five and 10 when they died.

Police in New Zealand said the bodies had probably been in the suitcases for several years. The suitcases had been in storage in Auckland for at least three or four years, police said.

South Korean police said they believed the woman may be the mother of the two children since her New Zealand address was connected to the storage unit where the suitcases had been kept.

ab/ar (AP, AFP)