South Korean police arrest woman over two NZ children found dead in suitcases

Murder suspect is believed to be mother and to have fled New Zealand in 2018

New Zealand police opened a homicide inquiry after the remains of two children were found in a suitcase. Photograph: DAVID ROWLAND/AFP via Getty Images
New Zealand police opened a homicide inquiry after the remains of two children were found in a suitcase. Photograph: DAVID ROWLAND/AFP via Getty Images

South Korean police have arrested on Thursday a woman believed to be the mother of two children whose remains were found in suitcases in New Zealand last month.

The Korean-born New Zealander is charged with murder.

The woman in her 40s was arrested in the southeastern city of Ulsan earlier in the day, after global police agency Interpol issued a red notice, the Korean National Police Agency said.

The woman is suspected of fleeing to South Korea in 2018 after killing her then seven-year-old and 10-year-old children in Auckland, authorities said.

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A South Korean court will review whether to extradite the suspect to New Zealand, they added.

New Zealand police opened a homicide inquiry in Auckland after the remains of the children were found by a family going through the contents of a storage locker they had purchased unseen.

The family who found the bodies were not connected to the deaths. — Reuters