Crown Solicitor Natalie Walker said the evidence supported Lee did not attempt suicide and instead deliberately killed the children perhaps to free herself from parenting alone before she went about concealing the crime and left to South Korea to start a new life.
“Her most likely diagnosis was that she suffered from a major depressive disorder or grief disorder.”
A photo captured of Hakyung Lee at Safe Store after she killed her children Yuna and Minu Jo.Credit: Stuff.co.nz
Walker said the children were vulnerable and there was a gross breach of trust given Lee was the sole surviving parent.
Those convicted of murder in New Zealand automatically receive a life sentence, with judges setting a minimum period of at least 10 years before the defendant can apply for parole. Lee must serve at least 17 years, Justice Venning ruled.
The children’s uncle, Jimmy Sei Wook Jo, was in court, where a lawyer read a statement on his behalf.
“I never imagined such a profound tragedy would ever befall our family,” the statement said. “I feel like I failed to look after my niece and nephew.”
New Zealand police at the scene where the children’s remains were found in 2022.Credit: NZ Herald/AP
A prosecutor read out a statement by Lee’s mother, Choon Ja Lee, who spoke of her devastation at learning what had happened to the children.
“It felt like a pain that cut through my bones, or as if someone was gouging out my chest,” the grandmother said. “I do not know when this pain and suffering might heal, but I often think I may carry it with me until the day I die.”
She said she had been called the “mother of a murderer” at her church, and regretted not taking her daughter to see a counsellor after a trip to Australia in 2017.
Loading
“If I had taken her at that time this tragedy might have been prevented,” she said.
After Wednesday’s hearing, New Zealand police acknowledged authorities in South Korea for their help with the investigation.
“Yuna and Minu would have been 16 and 13 today,” Detective Inspector Tofilau Faamanuia Va’aelua said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with the wider family today for the tragic loss of these two young children.”
