Trial Begins in New Zealand for Mother Accused of Murdering Children

The trial has begun in Auckland, New Zealand, for Hakyung Lee, a Korean-born New Zealand citizen charged with murdering her two children, aged eight and six, in 2018. The children's bodies were found in suitcases in an abandoned storage unit in 2022, discovered by a family who had purchased the unit at auction and who were not connected to the deaths. Lee has pleaded not guilty and has chosen to represent herself, with two lawyers appointed as standby counsel. A key issue in the trial is whether Lee was legally insane at the time of the alleged murders, as this may form the basis of a defense. She was arrested in South Korea in 2022 following an Interpol red notice, then extradited to New Zealand. The trial is expected to last about four weeks, during which the jury will consider the evidence surrounding the children's deaths, which occurred after the death of their father in 2017.