He was inspired to begin drawing after viewing an illustration from Dr. Slump, a manga drawn by Akira Toriyama.

[4] At the age of 19, he pursued a fine arts education at Dong-Eui University, located in Busan:[3][5] until he studied here he had not learned the mathematical principles of perspective, something he had previously done by intuition.

[2][4][5] Early in his career, Kim felt pressured to draw in the style of Japanese manga, which was popular at the time.

[13] Kim died in Paris of a heart attack on 3 October 2022, after experiencing chest pains.

[14][8] Kim was famous for his detailed illustrations, ink and brush artistic style, and skill at drawing from memory.

[5] In 2015, he made an attempt to hold the Guinness world record for the longest drawing by an individual in "fisheye perspective.

[4][17] Before starting a drawing he would imagine various compositions in his mind's eye, and relate the subjects to simple shapes like cubes and grids.