[5][6][7] While Lee had sought a judicial appointment around 1954, she was denied a judgeship due to political reasons.
[9] She attended Ewha Womans University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in home economics before marrying the Methodist minister, Yil Hyung Chyung (who had studied in America), in 1936.
[11] Tai-young lived in a patriarchal society (as was the tradition in Korea) and she had four children, three daughters and a son.
[4][10] Lee then had to work as a school teacher and radio singer, and took in sewing and washing in the early 1940s to maintain her family.
In 1946, she became the first woman to enter Seoul National University, earning her law degree three years later.
[10] Lee and her husband participated in the 1976 Myongdong Declaration [ko], which called for the return of civil liberties to South Korean citizens.
Considered an enemy of President Park Chung Hee because of her political views, she was arrested, receiving in 1977 a three-year suspended sentence, a loss of civil liberties, and an automatic disbarment for ten years.
[12][13] Her law practice became the Korea Legal Aid Center for Family Relations, serving more than 10,000 clients each year.