Best friend of Kiwi-Korean woman killed in South Korea landslide opens up about his heartbreak

One of the New Zealanders killed in a landslide used to describe the idyllic town in which she died as "the Queenstown of South Korea".

Now a monsoon has left Gapyeong inundated and Anna Kim's body, as well as those of her toddler Taeyang and 65-year-old mother Rose, have been found amongst the debris.

Her best friend says he is heartbroken.

"I saw those pictures and my heart just broke.  No one could survive what those pictures were showing," Shane Kakariki told Newshub.

While 36-year-old Anna's roots were in South Korea, her heart was in New Zealand. 

She moved to New Zealand when she was 12 and lived in Dunedin, Wellington and then Rotorua where she managed the local ANZ, met former partner Luke and had baby Taeyang. 

"Every single person that met Anna fell in love with her," said Kakariki.

 "She was really proud of her Kiwi-Korean heritage and culture, she wanted to go back and reconnect as her mother was building a business over there." 

The guesthouse she and her mother set up is wrecked - bridges and highways too have been swept away and more than a thousand people are homeless. 

Kakariki says his heart goes out to Kim's former partner. 

"I'm feeling heartbroken for Luke," he said.

 "He's lost his ex-partner, his child and his ex-partner's mother."

Anna's Kiwi family are now on their way to South Korea, to farewell all three generations on Friday.

To help support the Kim family you can donate to a Givealittle here.