Suspect extradited from South Korea
South Korea has extradited a 42-year-old murder suspect to New Zealand two months after she was arrested over her possible connection to the bodies of two long-dead children found in abandoned suitcases in August.
South Korea’s Justice Ministry said the unidentified woman was handed over to New Zealand authorities on Monday evening (local time) at the Incheon international airport near Seoul.
The ministry said it also has provided New Zealand with unspecified ‘‘important evidence’’ on the case.
‘‘With the extradition, we hope that the truth of the case, which has garnered worldwide attention, will be revealed through the fair and strict judicial process of New Zealand,’’ the ministry said in a statement.
Once she is back in New Zealand, the woman is expected to appear at the Manukau District Court in Auckland.
Strict suppression orders prevent media from revealing the children’s identities.
South Korean Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon issued an order for the woman’s extradition early this month.
The Seoul High Court had earlier granted approval of her extradition after she expressed her consent in writing to be sent back to New Zealand.
South Korean police arrested the woman at a southern port city in September, based on a domestic court warrant issued after New Zealand requested her provisional arrest.
New Zealand’s Ministry of Justice then submitted a formal request for her extradition to the South Korean ministry.
New Zealand Police said the South Korean warrant for the suspect’s arrest was in connection with two murder charges.
The children’s bodies were discovered in August after a New Zealand family bought abandoned goods, including two suitcases, from a storage unit in an online auction. The children were between 5 and 10 years old and had been dead for years, and the suitcases had been in storage in Auckland for at least three or four years, according to police.
South Korean police say the woman was born in South Korea and later moved to New Zealand, where she gained citizenship.
Immigration records show she had returned to South Korea in 2018.
South Korean police had said it was suspected she could be the mother of the two victims.
New Zealand Police and the Ministry of Justice have been approached for comment.
The ministry directed questions to police.
Exactly 6000 new Covid-19 cases were reported yesterday – pushing the 14-day average to the highest since the end of winter. Of those, 26% were reinfections, according to raw data provided by the Ministry of Health.
While reported case numbers are always higher at the start of a week, the daily tally has not hit 6000 since August 8. The rise in cases makes the new 14-day average 3771.6 cases – the highest since August 23.
Before the August peak, New Zealand hadn’t seen a similar daily average since February.
On Monday, the ministry confirmed 27,076 new community Covid-19 cases in the past week, an increase from 24,068 a week earlier.
There were 328 people in hospital with the virus as of midnight on Sunday, including 10 in intensive care or a highdependency care unit.
The ministry reported 58 deaths with Covid over the past week, 30 of which were attributed to Covid-19 (either as underlying cause or contributory cause).
Categorisations of 28 were not yet available.
An air force plane has landed safely after a fire warning light led to an ‘‘unscheduled’’ landing at Whenuapai Airport, Auckland, yesterday morning. An NZDF spokesperson said the aircraft, a Hercules was departing from RNZAF Base Auckland when the crew shut down one engine in response to a fire warning light, they said. ‘‘There was no fire onboard but Fire and Emergency New Zealand has been notified as is standard procedure in such events,’’ they said. The aircraft landed safely, and an investigation would be carried out.