Woman arrested after child’s body found in auction suitcase

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A woman has been arrested in South Korea on two murder charges from New Zealand where the bodies of two children were found in an abandoned suitcase last month, officials said.

Authorities did not immediately disclose whether the 42-year-old suspect was the mother of the dead children. was

South Korean police have arrested a woman in the southeastern port city of Ulsan based on a South Korean court warrant issued after New Zealand requested her provisional arrest as part of extradition proceedings, according to South Korea’s National Police Agency and Ministry of Justice. restrained.

The unidentified woman covered her face with the hood of her coat, and police escorted her outside the Ulsan Police Station to put her in a car bound for the capital, Seoul.

New Zealand authorities must submit a formal request for her extradition to the South Korean Ministry of Justice within 45 days. The ministry will then decide whether to proceed with her extradition review at the Seoul High Court to determine whether she will be sent to New Zealand.

New Zealand police said the South Korean warrant was linked to two murder charges and called on South Korean authorities to keep the woman in prison until she was extradited.

“We were able to detain the foreigner in such a short period of time thanks to the support of the South Korean authorities and the coordination of the New Zealand Police Interpol staff,” Tofilau Faamanuia Vaerua said in a statement. rice field.

He said the investigation was “extremely difficult” and that investigations were continuing both in New Zealand and abroad.

Vaaelua said police did not intend to comment further as the matter was now in court. No comments.

The bodies of their children were found last month after a New Zealand family bought items including two abandoned suitcases from an Auckland warehouse at an online auction. Police said the New Zealand family had nothing to do with the death.

Police said the children were between the ages of 5 and 10, had been dead for several years, and the suitcase had been in storage for at least three to four years.

South Korean police said the woman was born in South Korea and then emigrated to New Zealand, where she obtained citizenship. According to her immigration records, she returned to South Korea in 2018.

South Korean police believe she may be the mother of the two victims, as her past address was registered in the warehouse where the suitcases were stored for years.