Lee has been boycotting and refused attending the Blue Dragon Film Awards ceremony since 2002 due to political conflicts with Chosun Ilbo, a conservative South Korean newspaper which hosts the awards. Consequently, since 2002 his films have never been submitted to the competition and were excluded from the nomination for the award’s best picture and best director. However, Lee respects the efforts and rights of the actors and film crews to get nominated in Blue Dragon Film Awards. For ten years until 2017, Lee was blacklisted by the previous government. Lee recalls of his eight-year-hiatus: