[5][6] During a brief visit to Korea in 2004, she made her entertainment debut by appearing in an LG Telecom TV commercial with actor Bae Yong-joon.

[17][18][19] She next starred in the Korean-Japanese romance film The Relation of Face, Mind and Love alongside Kang Ji-hwan, which marks her big-screen debut.

[21] Lee then co-starred along Jung Woo-sung, Cha Seung-won and Soo Ae in the 2010 spy series Athena: Goddess of War, a spin-off to 2009's Iris.

[22][23][24] In 2011, she starred in the television drama Me Too, Flower!, playing an ill-tempered police officer who falls in love with a young millionaire masquerading as a parking attendant.

[43] In March 2011, a photo taken by a tourist of Lee and Athena co-star Jung Woo-sung on a date in Paris surfaced on the internet, and the two confirmed that they were romantically involved.

[44][45][46] On April 21, 2011, Sports Seoul broke the story (later confirmed by numerous media outlets) that she and Korean pop/rock icon Seo Taiji had been secretly married since 1997, before splitting in 2006.

Lee, who stayed behind in the U.S., began divorce proceedings in 2006 at the Santa Monica Family Court on the grounds of irreconcilable differences due to incompatible lifestyles and personalities.

[56] Lee claimed in the 2011 lawsuit that she filed for the divorce in 2006 and the court decision became effective in 2009, thus the three years required under Korean law for seeking alimony hadn't expired.

[57] Lee lodged the suit in January and withdrew it on April 30, citing psychological suffering after her private life was made public.