Lee attended South Chungcheong Sports High School.[n 1] He represented his school at the 74th Korean National Sports Festival in 1993, where he came in first place and set the festival record in the high school men's 400 metres hurdles with a time of 52.97 seconds.[3] He went on to attend Sungkyunkwan University, and while a student there came in first place at the 51st National Track Championships[n 2] in 1997 in the men's 400 metres hurdles with a time of 51.64 seconds.[4] By 1999 he was in mandatory military service, and competed at the 53rd National Track Championships as a member of the Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps, again taking 1st place with a time of 50.79 seconds.[5] He was living in Seocheon County, South Chungcheong Province when he was chosen for the South Korean team at the 2000 Summer Olympics.[6]
After retiring from competition, in 2008 he founded the Nonsan municipal employees' track team and became its first coach, eventually leading them to victory at the 24th National Workplace Teams Track Competition[n 3] in 2012.[7] He later became the track coach at his alma mater Sungkyunkwan University. In 2017 the Gyeonggi Provincial Track Federation.[n 4] honoured him with the "best coach" award.[8]
^제74회 체전 기록실 [Records at the 74th Sports Festival]. The Hankyoreh. October 14, 1993. p. 15. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
^기록실 [Records]. The Hankyoreh. April 24, 1997. p. 18. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
^기록실 [Records]. The Hankyoreh. June 12, 1999. p. 18. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
^김상호 [Kim Sang-ho] (June 12, 2000). [육상]시드니올림픽 대표 12명 파견 [(Track) 12 representatives will be sent to Sydney Olympics]. The Dong-a Ilbo. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
^김흥준 [Kim Heung-jun] (August 12, 2012). 논산시 직장체육팀, 전국실업단대항 육상경기서 종합우승 [Nonsan employees' team overall champions at National Workplace Team Track Championships]. Chungcheong Today. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
^정민수 [Jeong Min-su (February 23, 2017). 김하현 등 육상 9명 우수선수상 영예 [Nine athletes including Kim Ha-hyeon honoured with track award]. Kyonggi News. Retrieved October 14, 2017.