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A NEW ZEALAND jury in Auckland has found Hakyung Lee guilty of murdering her two young children and concealing their bodies in suitcases for more than four years before the grim discovery in an abandoned storage unit in 2022.
The High Court in Auckland on Tuesday rejected Lee’s defence of insanity, which her legal team argued was due to severe mental distress at the time of the killings.
The 45-year-old was convicted of killing her son, Minu Jo, 6, and daughter, Yuna Jo, 8, in June 2018, just months after the death of her husband from cancer.
Their remains were only discovered in August 2022 when the contents of a storage locker in South Auckland were auctioned off and the new owner opened the suitcases.
Lee had fled to South Korea following the killings and was extradited back to New Zealand in November 2022 to face trial. She denied the charges but was found guilty by the jury after a lengthy trial.
The case shocked the nation and drew international attention due to the disturbing circumstances and the time it took for the murders to become known. - September 23, 2025