[1] After high school, Kim moved back to Korea to study at Ewha Womans University for a double major in international office administration and English language and literature.

[7] She learned the English language in Indonesia, which allowed her to enter international pageants, and credits her high school teacher for encouraging her to compete, even calling her mother until she agreed.

[1][8] After returning to Korea, she trained for three years in pageant skills such as catwalk, fitness, speech, and makeup.

Kim was crowned as the winner by the outgoing titleholder Miss Supranational 2016, Srinidhi Ramesh Shetty.

[14] During her reign as Miss Supranational 2017, Kim travelled to Vietnam, China, Japan, Myanmar, Malaysia, India, and Indonesia.