Gil-Won Lee made his debut as a poet through a monthly 《Poetry Literature》, He separated his position of the editor of a monthly 《Women's Life》 after being indicted for his article.
His publication of anthology includes《Hahoe Mask Self-Portrait》,《Meditations on Ginko Nuts》,《Sitting on an Eggshell》,《One Morning as a Tree》,《Haeiri Poems》,《Poems of Lee Gil-Won》, and《Sunset glow》, the latter two of which are the English version of his poems.
He was awarded the『5th Sang-Byeong Cheon Prize』and the『24th Dong-Ju Yoon Literary Prize』.
Before becoming the president of the Korean Centre of the International PEN, he has been engaged in the Centre as an auditor, director, chair of the Planning Committee, and vice president of the centre. He has worked as the editor of the《PEN Literature》.
In addition to his activities for the PEN, he serves as a director of the Literature House, Seoul. He participated in the 59th, 60th, 61st, 62nd, 64th, 66th, 67th, 73rd, and 74th International PEN Congress as a representative of Korean Centre.
Languages