Philanthropy
Besides her acting career, Lee has been involved with several charities. In 1997, she went to Ethiopia as a NGO Goodwill Ambassador. She went to Thar Desert in 1999 to do a TV show about people in India's lowest social caste. Later in 2001, she described these experiences in her autobiography "A Most Special Love" with partial English and donated the income from the sale of the book to charity.
She was appointed a goodwill ambassador in 2004 by UNICEF and has since held several charity posts. She has made many donations to schools and hospitals, including Chosun First Middle School in Harbin and an elementary school in China that was later renamed Lee Young-Ae Elementary School. In 2012, she served as the celebrity spokesperson for the "Love Donation" project, hosted by the magazine Woman Chosun. She made a donation to build a school in Myanmar.
In 2012, Lee launched a business for organic and eco-friendly products for children in Seoul.
In July 2014, Taiwanese media reported that Lee had privately assisted a pregnant Taiwanese woman vacationing with her husband in Seoul. The woman gave birth to a girl prematurely and the infant had several complications. Lee found out about the couple through her friend and decided to pay their medical bills of NT$4 million (US$134,000) because the infant required two surgeries and constant medical care after she was born. Lee was subsequently given an award by Taiwan's Chou Ta-Kuan Cultural and Educational Foundation. In 2016, she helped a Vietnamese girl who went to Korea to treat her brain tumor by donating 37 million won for the operation and other medical bills.
In Sri Lanka, she is known as "Changumi" (Sinhala: චංගුමී), and her popularity there led to the creation of the Sujatha Diyani Scholarship Fund in 2014, when she donated US$100,000. The fund aims at providing financial assistance to female students from low-income families. Lee also became the first actress to join the "Chime for Change" campaign of Gucci to "raise funds and awareness for projects promoting education, health, and justice for girls and women" around the world.
In 2015, Lee was appointed special envoy by the UNESCO Korean Commission. She promotes the commission's activities such as fundraising and a campaign to render educational support to underdeveloped countries.
In March 2022, Lee donated 100 million won to Ukraine, which was damaged by the Russian invasion, along with a letter of consolation to the people of Ukraine.
On May 1, 2022, Lee donated 100 million won to the Sowon Foundation Office in Yangpyeong City Gyeonggi-do Province to assist patients who have difficulty getting out of the house due to childhood cancer or rare diseases.
On August 19, 2022, Lee donated ₩100 million to help those affected by the 2022 South Korean floods through the Korea Foundation for the Disabled.
On November 3, 2022, Lee made a donation to help the victims of the Seoul Halloween crowd crush through donations to Korea Welfare Foundation for the Disabled.
On January 22, 2023, Lee donated 50 million won to residents affected by the fire in Guryong Village, Gangnam District, Seoul.
In September 2023, Lee donated 50 million won to Syngman Rhee, President of the Founder's Memorial Association to build a memorial to former president Syngman Rhee.
In November 2023, Lee donated ₩50 million to aid humanitarian efforts for children hurt in the Gaza war, the Korean Red Cross announced on 21.
