The bodies of two children aged between 5 and 10 were found in two suitcases purchased at an auction in New Zealand, leading to a murder investigation.
The two children found dead on August 11 are believed to have relatives in South Korea, according to Seoul police. Associated Press.
Detective Tofilau Faamanuia Vaerua told New Zealand media On August 18th, the children were believed to have been dead for “years”.
Authorities have reiterated that the family who bought the suitcases had nothing to do with their deaths.
New Zealand police had enlisted the assistance of South Korean police to locate a woman suspected of being the children’s mother.
Seoul’s National Police Agency confirmed that the woman, a South Korean-born New Zealander, had records of entering South Korea in 2018 and no records of leaving the country.
However, Park Seung-hoon, an official with the National Police Agency, said local police did not have the authority to track down and detain the woman, citing her status as a New Zealand citizen.
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Park said Interpol would request New Zealand to formally submit a request for extradition if it deems it appropriate to issue a red notice against her.
The red notice requests law enforcement agencies around the world to identify and provisionally arrest persons pending extradition, extradition, or similar legal action.
“If a New Zealand woman is clearly identified as a suspect and an arrest warrant is received, there is a high likelihood of an Interpol red notice. We will then proceed with the extradition process,” another NPA official said. Told. told the Hankyoreh.
Vaaelua said the investigation was complicated by the long time between death and discovery.
“This is no easy investigation,” he said. “What I can say is that we are making very good progress in DNA research.
New Zealand’s local Korean community said they were shocked by the news and wanted to cooperate with the police investigation.
“When we heard this news, we [felt] Diane Lee, co-president of the Korea-New Zealand Cultural Association, said: told RNZ.
“Some leaders got in touch with each other and we started praying.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Rebecca Zhu is based in Sydney. She focuses on the national politics of Australia and New Zealand. Any tips? Please contact her at [email protected]