Her husband died of a heart attack in 2010 while saving their daughter from drowning in a mountain stream in Okcheon, Gangwon while on a family vacation.

[3][4] As an actress, she played the role of the mother of lead actor Yoo Ah-in in the highly acclaimed 2011 film Punch which drew 5.3 million viewers.

[5] An advocate of multiculturalism in South Korea, she regularly gives lectures about the subject to teachers and student leaders.

Lee's inauguration ceremony was held in the Justice Party Press Room of the National Assembly on 1 February 2024.

[10] Since the 2012 election, Lee has been hit by charges of misrepresenting her education, after claiming on national television to have attended medical school in the Philippines when in fact she had simply taken biology classes during college.