He is recognized for the lyricism in his animated films, the best known of which are My Beautiful Girl, Mari (2002) and Yobi, the Five Tailed Fox (2007).
Lee was originally part of a Minjung art collective called Ganeunpae (Korean: 가는패) in the 1980s.
He debuted as a feature-length animation director with My Beautiful Girl, Mari in 2002.
For his sophomore effort, he directed the live-action feature film Texture of Skin in 2005 (which received a theatrical release in 2007).
[4] Lee was awarded at the 26th Annecy International Animated Film Festival (Grand Prix, Best Feature Film) in 2002, Animafest Zagreb (Special Award) in 2004, and Chicago International Children's Film Festival (Certificate of Excellence Prize) in 2005.