Lee Dong-gook

In the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Lee was a member of the South Korea national team, playing a match against the Netherlands as a substitute. After the World Cup, he led South Korea to the AFC Youth Championship title, becoming the tournament's MVP and top scorer.

Lee also took part in the 2000 AFC Asian Cup. He scored a hat-trick against Indonesia, bringing South Korea's only victory in the group stage. He scored a golden goal in extra time of the quarter-final match against Iran. He also scored a goal in the semi-finals against Saudi Arabia, but South Korea lost this time. He became a top goalscorer with six goals after scoring the winning goal in the third place match against China.

In 2002, Lee was not chosen by Guus Hiddink to represent South Korea in 2002 FIFA World Cup. Fans called him "Lazy Genius", because they felt that he did not fully use his potential. This is also because Hiddink emphasized strong stamina, great power, and agile speed, which are the categories that Lee struggles in, except power. He later admitted that he spent his days drinking and did not watch a single game that took place during the 2002 World Cup.

Lee was coach Dick Advocaat's first-choice selection at forward for Korea ahead of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but a knee injury suffered in a K League match forced him to miss the tournament. On 1 November 2007, Lee was banned from the national team for twelve months after it was revealed that he, along with team captain Lee Woon-jae, teammates Kim Sang-sik and Woo Sung-yong, went on a late night drinking spree with several female employees during the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, in which Korea received third place. Unlike the other members who were involved in this incident, because Lee played for Middlesbrough in England, the KFA could not ban him from his club team matches.

Lee was selected as a reserve striker of the national team for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He came on as a substitute in the round of 16 against Uruguay, and got a crucial chance made by Park Ji-sung. However, his shot lacked the power to cross the goal line, and South Korea lost the game after his mistake. He was denounced by South Korean fans, and was worried that his family would get hurt due to the criticisms about him.

Lee played in qualifiers for 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cup but was not listed on the final teams for the tournaments.