As a freshman at Dongguk University, Kang shared the playing time behind the plate but showed signs of promise as an offensive catcher, batting .333 with 3 home runs and 14 RBI.
In July 2000, Kang was selected for the South Korea collegiate national team and competed in the Korea–USA Baseball Championship Series.
He competed in the Asian Baseball Championship for the South Korean national team, serving a backup catcher to Chae Sang-byung.
In that season, he played 74 games, serving as the back-up catcher to Park Kyung-oan and batting a respectable .272 in 147 at-bats.
However, Kang remained in the backup role as veteran catcher Kim Dong-soo signed a free-agent contract with the Unicorns.