A New Zealand court has sentenced Hakyung Lee to life imprisonment for the murders of her two young children, a case that drew widespread attention after their remains were later discovered in suitcases at a storage facility.
Lee, 45, was convicted in September for killing her eight-year-old son and six-year-old daughter in 2018. She admitted responsibility but pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, citing severe grief following her husband’s death a year earlier.
Minu Jo and Yuna Jo were eight and six years old when they died (RNZ)
At Wednesday’s sentencing, Justice Geoffrey Venning ruled that Lee must serve a minimum of 17 years before being eligible for parole. He described the children as “particularly vulnerable” and rejected calls from her legal team for a reduced sentence. However, he approved compulsory psychiatric treatment before Lee is returned to prison once medically cleared.
According to reports, Lee remained subdued in court as the sentence was delivered. Life imprisonment is the maximum penalty in New Zealand, which abolished the death penalty in 1989.
The case resurfaced in 2022 when the contents of an abandoned storage unit were opened by a family who had purchased it at auction. Police investigations eventually led to Lee, who had left New Zealand and was living in South Korea under a different name. She was later arrested, extradited, and brought to trial.
During the trial, the defence argued that Lee’s mental state had deteriorated severely after her husband’s death, while the prosecution said her actions showed planning and awareness of wrongdoing.
Hakyunug Lee with her late husband, Ian Jo (RNZ)
Family members of the children shared emotional statements during sentencing, describing the enduring pain caused by the loss and the ongoing impact on relatives.
Lee represented herself at trial with the assistance of two lawyers and will now begin serving her life sentence with mandated psychiatric care.
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