Then a decade later, Lee made her comeback with an award-winning leading role in E J-yong's feature debut An Affair (1998).

She has since remained active in film and television, notably in the May–December romance Solitude (2002), the Dangerous Liaisons adaptation Untold Scandal (2003), the mockumentary Actresses (2009), the family dramas Smile, Mom (2010), and Queen of Tears (2024).

[3][4] Over ten years later, in 1998, Lee returned with a widely praised role in E J-yong's award-winning film An Affair, about a woman who falls in love with her sister's fiancé.

[3] Lee next starred in Hellcats, a 2008 romantic comedy that traces the lives and loves of three characters at different stages of womanhood.

[13] Lee remains a favorite in editorial spreads in fashion magazines, notably a 2010 Elle Korea feature opposite pop star TOP.

[14] Lee continued to act on television, giving a vulgar, selfish, but human spin to her role as the stepmother in Cinderella's Sister, a ratings hit in 2010.

[15][16] 2012's Love Rain, a Yoon Seok-ho melodrama that jumps between the 1970s and the present,[17] inked overseas distribution deals,[18] but was unsuccessful domestically.

[22] The Seoul High Court ruled that Lee was guilty of breach of contract and ordered her to pay ₩120 million (US$110,604) in damages.