Woman accused of murdering two children, hiding bodies in suitcase can now be named

The woman accused of murdering her two children, whose bodies were found in suitcases in Auckland, can now be named.

The woman is 42-year-old Hakyung Lee, who can now be named as the children's mother. 

The 42-year-old, who faces two charges of murder, arrived in New Zealand in November last year after being extradited from South Korea.

She pleaded not guilty to the charges in December and the trial date has been set for April 2024. 

Lee was previously declined name suppression at the High Court and on Wednesday the Court of Appeal also ruled against it. 

Hakyung Lee during her first appearance at the Manukau District Court.
Hakyung Lee during her first appearance at the Manukau District Court. Photo credit: Newshub

In September last year, South Korean police arrested Lee who was "hiding in an apartment" in the city of Ulsan.

The Korean Ministry of Justice received a request from New Zealand for her provisional arrest in connection with the death of the children.

The woman told Korean reporters as she was bundled into a car: "I didn't do it."

It was a major development almost 10,000 kilometres away from the south Auckland suburb of Manurewa where the children's bodies were first discovered in suitcases.

In August, the human remains of two children were discovered at an address on Moncrieff Ave in the south Auckland suburb of Manurewa.

Newshub later revealed the remains were unknowingly taken by a family to their Manurewa home who'd bid and won an auction for abandoned goods in a SafeStore Papatoetoe storage facility.

The children were aged between 5 and 10 years old and had been dead for a long time. Police said the suitcases had been in storage in Auckland for at least three or four years.