The trial of a South Korean woman accused of killing her two children and putting their bodies into suitcases will take place in September next year - three years after her arrest.
Her trial was just days away from beginning last month when it was adjourned for fair trial reasons.
And at Auckland High Court this morning, Justice Matthew Downs confirmed Hakyung Lee's new trial date was more than a year away.
The trial — which was set down for four weeks — will now begin on September 8, 2025.
It's been six years since the deaths of her two children — Minu Jo, six, and eight-year-old Yuna Jo — and a year-and-a-half since court proceedings against Lee started.
She has denied murdering the children.
Lee was in court today with an interpreter to hear the new date.
She was remanded in custody through to the trial and was set to next appear in court for a callover this July.
The case so far
Minu Jo and Yuna Jo were found dead in August 2022 after a family bought the contents of an abandoned storage locker in Papatoetoe.
The family took the goods to their home in Clendon Park, where the bodies were discovered in suitcases among the items.
It's believed the children died in 2018. Immigration records show Lee returned to South Korea that year.
An investigation was opened after the grisly discovery and about a month later, in September 2022, Lee was arrested in South Korea at New Zealand's request.
South Korean police found her in the city of Ulsan.
Lee was extradited and landed back in New Zealand in November that year.
She's been before the courts since then, and lost her name suppression in July last year.
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