Further more, his mother, who had immigrated to Japan at the age of three, had forgotten how to speak Korean, and as a result, their home language was exclusively Japanese.
Lee was given the name legal alias Ri Keisai and grew up being ashamed of his Korean background and due to his poverty.
This was a state of mind which was overcome by the intervention of a teacher, who raised the issue of anti-Korean discrimination, and the support and acceptance of Japanese friends.
Though at first they made little progress, their children's programme, founded in 1978, in Nariai was particularly successful; in 1985, they began a campaign which resulted in the establishment of a division in the city board of education devoted exclusively to education for ethnic Koreans, and the elimination of the requirement that city employees hold Japanese nationality.
Running from his hometown, the Takatsuki electoral district, he estimated that he would require 13,000 votes to gain a seat.