Lee was an advocate for the Korean independence movement, democracy, anti-communism, anti-military rule, and non-governmental organizations.

[1] After Korea was liberated from Japanese colonial rule in 1945, Lee led a student union that opposed the trusteeship of Korea [ko] under the United States and Soviet Union.

[4] 1946 1954 1958~1961 1961 1966 1969 1971~1973 1973 1975 1976 1978 1984~ 1985 1987 On May 16, 1961, Park Chung Hee, Kim Jong-pil, and Lee Nak-sun successfully staged a military coup d'etat.

(This article needs more details about his political exile, his "man without a passport" status, and his asylum in the U.S.) (This article needs more details about his political comeback) 1990 1993 1994~ 1995~ 1996~ 1998 2005 2007 2011~2016 Lee died on February 27, 2016, at 03:45 KST, at Samsung Hospital in Seoul at the age of 94.

A funeral was held for him on March 2, 2016, that began with a five-day wake and a police-escorted procession that led to the National Assembly and ended with a gun salute at the Seoul National Cemetery where he is buried along with former South Korean presidents.