Hakyung Lee, a naturalized New Zealand mother, is accused of much more serious crimes. She has been charged with the 2018 murders of her two children—eight-year-old Yuna Jo and six-year-old Minu Jo. The tragic case has sparked widespread outrage, as Lee’s plea of not guilty by reason of insanity during her trial received national attention. Inside the courtroom, expert testimonies show her mental health struggle’s time span. These challenges became magnified with the passing of her husband, Ian Jo, to cancer.
So much of what’s transpired that led to Lee making these accusations have been complicated and complicatedly tied to her emotional psyche. After Ian Jo’s death, Lee exhibited obvious symptoms of extreme trauma. She started having nightmares, panic attacks, and extreme changes in her appetite. Medical professionals have pointed out that her reaction to grief involved employing “denial and avoidance defence mechanisms,” which ultimately failed to help her cope with the overwhelming reality of her husband’s death.
Background and Mental Health Struggles
Korean-born Hakyung Lee’s mental health crisis has been the central theme during the months-long legal battle. Psychiatrist Dr. Yvette Kelly, one of the experts who evaluated Lee, said her initial defense mechanisms were quite effective. When confronted by compelling video and photographic evidence of the true circumstances surrounding her husband’s death, they failed her. Kelly testified that Lee was suffering from major depressive disorder with psychotic features. Despite Lee’s best efforts to manage her grief, she continued to sink into despair.
Following the deaths of both her children, Lee returned to South Korea. Dr. Kelly noted that this decision took a toll on her mental well-being. In the midst of all this, Lee began to chat with a guy online. That same man went on to stalk and rape her in 2022. This trauma only deepened any risk to her psychological health and re-traumatized her still fragile psyche.
Dr. Kelly further stressed that Lee’s intolerable situation pushed her towards believing morally justifiable reasons for her actions. She stated, “Due to her depression, [Ms. Lee] wanted to suicide and believed her children would suffer a fate worse than death if they had to live without both their parents, or if they discovered her dead body.” Lee had to come to a very sad conclusion. She thought that murder was the only way to bring her children back to their husband and father.
The Accusations and Lee’s Response
The court has gone to great lengths to understand the facts and circumstances involved in the children’s fatalities. On her flight back to Auckland, according to Detective Sergeant Hwang, Hakyung Lee claimed that she had “so many questions.” Upon returning, she expressed her frustration over the media portrayal. She was just looking for assurance that there would be measures put in place to protect her from the public eye.
Without any true accountability, Lee has remained innocent at all times throughout the process. She reportedly told Detective Sergeant Hwang, “I was accused of something that I have not done.” She wants to die in New Zealand. There, she is overwhelmed with a sense of her late husband and children being ever-present.
In a poignant reflection of her emotional turmoil, Lee’s diary entries referred to the children’s deaths as a suicide. Her feelings of guilt were exacerbated by the belief that she was responsible for Minu’s birth defect—a cleft palate—and ultimately for Ian’s cancer-related death. This relentless self-blaming has only added to the complicated layers of her mental health challenges.
Expert Testimonies Reveal Depth of Distress
Dr. Yvette Kelly’s expert testimony has played a crucial role in understanding Hakyung Lee’s state of mind at the time of the alleged murders. She described Lee’s mental state at the time of the incident as consistent with a “disease of the mind.” According to Dr. Kelly, this diagnosis could influence the moral interpretation of Lee’s actions: “I’m quite confident she had a disease of the mind, but in terms of moral wrongfulness, it could [affect it].”
Dr. Kelly diagnosed Lee’s mental health problems as severely affecting her grasp on reality. This distortion of reality is what allowed Lee to morally rationalize her actions. She noted that individuals can recognize legal boundaries yet still believe they are acting ethically in extreme situations: “People can know that something is against the law but feel that it is the right course of action morally and ethically.”
As the trial progresses, the timeline of events leading to the tragedy remains vital for gauging Lee’s state of mind. Dr. Kelly expressed a need for clarity regarding this timeline: “I feel like I really need to see the timeline to be able to give a clear opinion about that.” The court has not shied away from this rapidly-evolving field. It is now methodically assessing Lee’s mental health state in relation to the charges which are levelled against her.
