Koh Sul-gi opened the scoring for the home side after just two minutes, but Lee turned the contest on its head in 24 minutes after equalising two minutes before the break.

The former Middlesbrough striker handed Jeonbuk the lead five minutes after the restart before netting his league-leading 11th goal of the season seven minutes after the hour mark.

Choi Won-kwon grabbed a consolation for the hosts with a minute remaining but it could not stop Gwangju suffering a third defeat of the season which allowed Jeonbuk to move within two points of the leaders, level on points with FC Seoul, who were held to a 2-2 draw by Busan I'Park.

"Lee Dong-gook is ready to play for the national team at any time," said Jeonbuk coach Choi Kang-hee.

"We struggled a bit with the heat but fortunately Lee was there to score three goals."

In Busan, Dejan Damjanovic handed the visitors an ideal start with a delightful back-heel finish after just four minutes.

Marques Romulo pulled the home side level three minutes later, but Seoul's Brazilian defender Adilson volleyed home eight minutes before the break to reclaim the lead.

Seoul had Kim Sung-yung and Adilson sent off in the second half and after Romulo saw his penalty saved by Kim Ho-jun, Lee Kang-jin headed home for Busan deep into injury time.

Elsewhere, sixth-placed Pohang Steelers extended their winning streak to three games as a 94th-minute strike from Brazilian Denilson handed the Asian Champions League quarter-finalists a 2-1 win over fifth-placed Gangwon FC.

Incheon United remained fourth after sharing a 3-3 draw with Jeju United, while Justinho Jorge Luiz's first-half strike handed struggling defending champions Suwon Samsung Bluewings just a third win of the season as they edged out Seongnam Ilhwa.

Finally, Ulsan Horang-I drew 1-1 at Gyeongnam FC and Lee Ho scored a last-minute winner as Daejeon Citizen beat Chunnam Dragons 1-0.