He stopped playing football for a while before receiving an offer to join semi-professional club Korea Railroad.

[3] In September 2006, after a match against Chinese Taipei, Lee announced that he would retire from the national team to focus on FC Seoul and also to make way for younger players in the upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup.

[4][5] Lee is well known by most South Koreans and other Asian football fans for a famous incident which is sometimes referred as "Eul-yong Ta (을용타)," and roughly translated as 'Eul-yong Strike/Smash'.

During the second half of the game, Chinese forward Li Yi kicked Lee in the shins immediately after he finished his pass.

Korea defeated China in the match, and Lee became the source of a popular internet meme after the incident.