[citation needed] In response to falling crop prices, he participated in the establishment of the Korean Young Farmers Association.

[citation needed] His actions gained the attention of the FAO (The Food and Agricultural Organization) of the UN, and in 1989 Lee was given the award for ‘Farmer of the Year’.

[citation needed] Hunger strikes continued to be a common tactic for Lee in his struggle against the World Trade Organization.

[citation needed] Lee led a hunger strike in 1994, when the WTO put pressure on South Korea to open its markets to foreign agricultural products.

[citation needed] However, Lee's hunger strike and his continued statements concerning the effect of rapidly dropping crop prices on Korean farmers were reported in many local newspapers.

[citation needed] On September 10, 2003, Lee stood on top of a police barricade at a major protest demonstration near the WTO conference in Cancún, Mexico, and in front of media television cameras he stabbed himself.

[4] Apart from different memorial ceremonies, a candlelight vigil was organised for September 10, 2005, in Hong Kong to commemorate the victims of the WTO, especially Lee Kyung Hae.