[1] She finished seventh in the 48-kg division at the 2004 Summer Olympics, and also picked up a bronze at the 2008 East Asian Judo Championships in Taipei, Taiwan.

Ye qualified for the South Korean squad in the women's extra-lightweight class (48 kg) at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, by placing fifth and receiving a berth from the Asian Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

She opened her match with a more convincing victory by points over Turkish judoka and two-time Olympian Neşe Şensoy Yıldız, before losing in an earth-shattering ippon to Germany's Julia Matijass during the quarterfinals.

[2] After her striking defeat, Ye's coach Suh Joung-buk apparently hit one of the athletes with a punch inside the judo hall, resulting the coach to be sent home from the Games in disgrace.

[3][4] In the repechage, Ye redeemed her chance from an incident for an Olympic bronze medal by thwarting Canada's Carolyne Lepage in their first playoff, but came up short with a tani otoshi throw and a score 2–1 on koka against China's Gao Feng, relegating Ye to the seventh position.