[2] He has directed six feature films: Green Fish (1997), Peppermint Candy (1999), Oasis (2002), Secret Sunshine (2007), Poetry (2010), and Burning (2018).

He graduated in 1981 with a degree in Korean Literature from Kyungpook National University in Daegu, where he spent much of his time in the theater, writing and directing plays.

[5][6] After being encouraged by his contemporaries to finally step behind the director's chair, Lee made Green Fish, a "critique of Korean society told through the eyes of a young man who becomes enmeshed in the criminal underworld",[7] in 1997.

In 2000, Lee made Peppermint Candy, a story following a single man in reverse chronology through 20 years of South Korean history—from 1980's student uprising, to the film's 2000 release.

Lee released Oasis in 2002, a story involving a mentally ill man and a woman with cerebral palsy, winning the Silver Lion for Best Director at the 2003 Venice Film Festival.

[9] Lee's fourth film, Secret Sunshine about a grieving mother who loses her son, was completed in 2007.

In 2009, Lee was appointed as a jury member of the international competition in 61st Cannes Film Festival along with Isabelle Huppert, Shu Qi and Robin Wright.

The film tells a story of a suburban woman in her 60s who begins to develop an interest in poetry while struggling with Alzheimer's disease and her irresponsible grandson.

Notably, the film's starring role was played by Yoon Jeong-hee, who was returning to the screen after an absence of 16 years.

[20] Lee Chang-dong was born in Daegu, the most conservative and rightist city in Korea, to lower middle-class parents, who were left-leaning, particularly his father.

This contradiction of growing up in an ex-noble family with socialist ties shaped his character, and subsequently his film style.

At the time I was thinking about people’s anger: everybody I knew back then was angry, no matter their religion or nationality or differences.

Rather than allowing his characters simply to wallow in their misery, Lee draws them into situations that make them search, often futilely, for the meaning of life.

[30] His work can be defined by the tragedy genre and his stories almost always involve his characters experiencing some degree of suffering.

His films are the reflection of the repressive social and political climate of the South Korea, and depictions of marginalized blue-collar Koreans.

[1] Through realistic portraits of troubled characters, Lee asks the audience to examine themselves and to look at what society pushes under the rug.

I do not try to be very specific in how I direct my actors, for instance I will not say things like 'Use this expression' or 'Speak this way', or 'Can you please raise the pitch of your voice a bit higher' or anything like that."

In response to the pressures felt by Moon So-ri and Sul Kyung-gu on his film set, Lee said, "[...] I've never raised my voice, and I'm never really about giving any sort of strict direction, especially when it comes to working with the actors.

"[34]In 1987, Lee Chang-dong published his first short story, "Possession", followed by the novella There's a Lot of Shit in Nokcheon in 1992 which won him The Korea Times Literary Prize, and then Tenaciousness in 1996.

"[38]In 2007, Lee's short story, "The Dreaming Beast" (translated by Heinz Insu Fenkl), was published in the journal AZALEA.

[41] In 2023, Lee's short story, "Snowy Day" (translated by Heinz Insu Fenkl and Yoosup Chang), was published in the March 6th, 2023 issue of The New Yorker.

In 2024, Lee's short story, "The Leper" (translated by Heinz Insu Fenkl) was also published in the December 30th, 2024 and January 6th, 2025 double issue of The New Yorker.

[44][45] Lee and the president of MBC television and radio network company, Choi Seung-ho,[46] are old friends and Kyungpook National University alumni.