Lee made her debut as a TV model in 1991. After appearing in T.V. commercials, she started playing in T.V. dramas and movies.

Lee came to prominence in South Korea after starring in the drama Dae Jang Geum. The show was then aired overseas and became exceptionally popular in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, and Cambodia. In 2005, nearly half the population of Hong Kong watched the finale of the drama.In mainland China, hundreds of million of viewers watched the drama despite the fact that it was shown late at night.

Lee was awarded Best Actress in the 2005 Blue Dragon Film Awards and 2006 Baeksang Art Awards for her performance in the film Sympathy For Lady Vengeance.

Because of her success, Lee Young-Ae has been invited to visit mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and Japan. In 2006, for the first time in 12 years, NHK had to use NHK Hall to host the NHK show due to her popularity. She was invited to the 2007 Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival in China.

In her 2006 autobiography “Young-Ae’s Vow”, Lee recalled how she became an actress. She first entered show business after working with Andy Lau in a 1991 chocolate advertisement. In 1995, she made the decision to go to graduate school in order to learn theory of acting. Since then, Lee has challenged herself in various kinds of acting roles, like that in Dae Jang Geum and later a very different role in Sympathy For Lady Vengeance.

In 2007, Lee received the Medal of Culture Merit for her contribution to Korean Wave from the South Korean government.

Her major contract in 2006 and 2007 was with LG Corp., a large South Korean conglomerate. She became the Pan-Asian spokes model for all LG Electronics’ products.

Besides her acting career, Lee has also been involved with several charities. In 1997 she went to Ethiopia as a NGO Goodwill Ambassador and to Thar Desert in 1999 to do a TV show about people in India’s lowest social caste. Later in 2001, Lee published these experiences in her autobiography “A Most Special Love” and donated the income from the sale of the book to charity.

Lee was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador in 2004 by UNICEF and has since held several charity functions. She has made many donations to schools and hospitals, including the Chosun First Middle School in Harbin and an elementary school in China that was thereafter renamed Lee Young-Ae Elementary School.