AUCKLAND, Sept 23, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - A mother in New Zealand was found guilty on Tuesday of killing her two children and stashing their bodies in suitcases, after a trial that drew international attention.

Hakyung Lee, 45, was extradited from Seoul in 2022 after the remains of her children were discovered in suitcases that had been left at a storage unit in south Auckland.

Authorities believe they had been dead for three to four years before their bodies were found.

The children, Yuna Jo and Minu Jo, were aged eight and six at the time of their deaths.

Lee's lawyers had argued she was not guilty by reason of insanity and that the death of her husband in 2017 sent her into a depressive spiral.

But the prosecution had argued she knew what she was doing.

The jury at the Auckland High Court found her guilty after just two hours of deliberations.

She now faces a maximum sentence of life in prison with a non-parole period of at least a decade under New Zealand law.

Throughout the three-week trial, Lee sat between a translator and a security guard with her head bowed, and her hair obscuring her face.

Although she technically represented herself in court, she never asked a question or spoke for the duration of the trial.

During the proceedings, Lee's lawyers said she had admitted to giving her children the antidepressant which led to their deaths.

Lee thought it would be best if the whole family died and they all took antidepressants, defence lawyer Lorraine Smith said.

But she got the dose wrong and when she woke up, the children were dead.

Their bodies were found in separate peach-coloured suitcases, wrapped in plastic, a police officer who first investigated the matter told the court.