Lee was born in 1938 in
Gangneung,
Korea, Empire of Japan. He received his Bachelor of Arts from the Department of Korean Language and Literature of
Seoul National University (SNU). He received his PhD in literature from there as well. From 1963 to 1969, he was an assistant professor at
Jeonbuk National University. From 1969 to 2003, he was a professor at the Department of Kroean Language and Literature at SNU. He was a visiting scholar at the
Harvard–Yenching Institute from 1976 to 1977 and at
University of Maryland, College Park in 1996. ==Notes==