He initially considered becoming a painter, but after graduating high school he turned to literature, writing poetry for coterie magazine The Cliff (Jeolbyeok).
His poem, The Paean (Changa), was recommended in the December 1965 issue of the monthly literary magazine Contemporary Literature (Hyundae Munhak).
Throughout his career he wrote more than fifty screenplays, including A Girl's First Love (Sonyeo-ui cheot-sarang, 1971), and Green Fallen-Leaves (Paran nagyeop, 1976).
Although the film depicts kidnapping, murder, and illicit drug dealing, the themes of Kang's subsequent works related more to Korean culture and religion.
His second film as director, Three Generations of Widows (Gwabu 3dae, 1983), was also based on his own screenplay, and was set in a town of haenyeo (female divers) on Jeju Island in post war Korea.