A court in South Korea has given green signal to the extradition of a woman, 42, facing murder charges in New Zealand.
The case is connected to the deaths of two children whose bodies were found abandoned in suitcases in August, reported The Guardian. On Friday, the Seoul high court said that it took the decision after the woman, whose identity hasn't been revealed, agreed in writing to be sent back to New Zealand.
After her arrest in September, she denied the charges while being led away from a police station. Previously, the court had planned to review her case on Monday to determine whether she should be extradited. Now it says that session is no longer necessary.
Now that the court has approved her extradition, it’s up to South Korea’s justice minister, Han Dong-hoon, to make the final call. A spokesperson said that South Korea's Justice Ministry will make the decision on her extradition soon, News 24 reported. The spokesperson shared that the extradition will take place within the week after the "Justice Ministry approves it, which will happen because she agreed to the transfer."
South Korean police had arrested the woman based on a domestic court warrant that was issued after New Zealand requested her provisional arrest. Then New Zealand submitted a formal request for the woman's extradition. The South Korean warrant was in connection to two murder charges, said New Zealand police. They requested South Korean authorities keep her in jail until she is extradited.
The woman was born in South Korea, said South Korean police. She later moved to New Zealand, where she gained citizenship. According to immigration records, she returned to South Korea in 2018.
The bodies of the children were found in August after a family in New Zealand bought abandoned goods. It included two suitcases. They were bought from a storage unit in an online auction. Police said that the family who bought the suitcases had nothing to do with the deaths.
According to New Zealand police, the kids, who could have been between ages 5 and 10, might have been dead for around three to four years, reported CNN.
