 Though at first they made little progress, their children's programme, founded in 1978, in Nariai was particularly successful; in 1985, they began a campaign which resulted in the establishment of a division in the city board of education devoted exclusively to education for ethnic Koreans, and the elimination of the requirement that city employees hold Japanese nationality.In 2006, Lee naturalised as a Japanese citizen in order to run for a position in the assembly of Osaka Prefecture.Running from his hometown, the Takatsuki electoral district, he estimated that he would require 13,000 votes to gain a seat.