Ms Lee has been a visiting scholar at Waseda University in Japan and Harvard University in the US. Besides her academic profession, she has been engaged with various public activities both in government and civil society sector.

Currently she has taken the role of presider of public interest activity promotion committee of Seoul metropolitan city and has served as a board member of DMZ life and Peace Valley, Eco Peace Asia, Transparency International Korea and the Women Peace and Security Forum.  Besides her involvement in various regional and international networks, she has also been the chairperson of the Korean Association of NGO studies and the incumbent chairperson of the committee for the International Cooperation of the Korean Democracy Foundation.  

Ms Lee co-hosted the 2009 Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy in Seoul. She has, moreover, organized numerous global forums such as the Peace Agenda & Politics of War Memory (2009) and the Seoul Democracy Forum (2009).

She authored and edited books such as Understanding Globalization (In Korean), The sociology of Family and gender (in Korean), Women and Alternatives in the age of Globalization (in English), Hope and Realities of Global Democracy Promotion (in English), Globalization of Democracy-Hope and Realities of Democracy Promotion in Asia (in English), Voices through Ballots (in English), and Citizens in Charge (in English).

The focus of her work as board member lies on civic education and direct democracy development within Asia.

Check the Democracy Navigator for the instruments of direct democracy available in South Korea, where Jung-Ok Lee is from.