As a result, she applied to the musical department in a social education center at a university near her home and attended night classes for about two years.

[4][11] Following this, she joined the Alleyway theater company led by director Park and appeared in several productions, including "Ode to Youth," "Manchurian Front," and "Press Guide.

[15] Followed by appearance as Katya in Korean premiere of play "Valentine's Day", a representative work released in 2009 by the Golden Mask Award-winning artist Ivan Vymilfayev, at Jayu Small Theater until January 14, 2018.

[17] In December 2018, Creative Table Quartz confirmed the appearance of actors Kim Jin-soo and Lee Bong-ryun in the Korean premiere of one-man play Everything Shines on Me.

It was followed with another minor roles in Masquerade (2012), Confession of Murder (2012), A Matter of Interpretation (2015), Girl On the Edge (2015), Life is but an Empty (2015), Run Off (2016), and How to Break up with My Cat (2016).

The assistant director on Okja stated that Bong remembered Lee from the play and after multiple meetings and conversations, she was cast in the film.

The film depicted a chance encounter between little girl who delivers newspapers and a woman who puts up flyers to find her lost child.

The conversation between the girl and the woman gave the two of them a chance to sit down and breathe for a while on their own arduous journey.Lee has been a frequent cast member in productions staged by the National Theater Company of Korea.

[26] Despite having a brief appearance, she made a lasting impression as a college student from Yeosu who participated in a dispute over which hometown was better against Hae-tae (played by Son Ho-jun) from Suncheon.

[27] Lee landed her first supporting role in 2015 as Mi-ran in the JTBC drama Songgot: The Piercer, which starred Ji Hyun-woo and Ahn Nae-sang.

She portrayed the character of Yeo Hwa-jung, a native of Gongjin who owned a seafood restaurant and also served as Tong-jang (village chief).

She co-parented her son Yi-jun with her ex-husband Jang Young-guk (played by In Gyo-jin) and was also the owner of the building that housed Hye-jin's dental clinic and home.

[34] In 2023 Lee joined cast of Crash Course in Romance as Kim Young-joo, best friend of Nam Haeng-seon (acted by Jeon Do-yeon).