He contributed to a Hong Kong FA Cup title and later moved to Buler Rangers in 2002 to serve as a player-coach for two years.

Under Kim, South China won the 2009 Lunar New Year Cup after defeating league all-star team and Sparta Prague.

[8] After contributing to South China's league title in the 2008–09 season, he started to manage Hong Kong national teams at the same time.

Kim and South China also won 2–0 over Tottenham Hotspur in a pre-season friendly, and advanced to the semi-finals in the 2009 AFC Cup.

Kim told the media that due to minor heart and liver problems, it is not suitable for him to be the manager of South China.

[13] Earlier, he was invited by Gyeongnam to be the manager, but Kim only agreed to serve as a tactical consultant, and his family would continue to stay in Hong Kong.

[2] However, Kim was gradually criticised by failing to qualify for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup and recruiting too many foreign players.

Hong Kong fans also criticised that after Kim took the office, the number of naturalised players in the team increased greatly, making it difficult for local youth to find opportunities to fight for places in the starting lineup.

Some naturalised players of the team were fairly old, such as centre-back Festus Baise from Nigeria and midfielder Itaparica from Brazil, who were both well over 37 years old at the time.

[23] On 26 December 2017, Kim was appointed Korea Football Association (KFA)'s vice president and head of the reinforcement committee.

[29] Kim signed a two-year contract expiring in 2024 that would be extended if FAM was satisfied with the performance of the national squad.

[38] Malaysia went to the 2023 AFC Asian Cup with high expectations, as they were put in a group with Jordan, Bahrain, and South Korea.

Kim was heavily criticized for using an unusual tactic than he frequently uses and for calling up Natxo Insa, who was 37 years old, had only made one cap for the national team, and had last played in 2018.

In the second round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification, Malaysia led the group with 6 points after defeating Kyrgyzstan and Chinese Taipei.

On 16 July 2024, Kim announced that he has resigned as Malaysia's national team head coach, citing personal commitments.

[40] On 1 November 2024, Kim led Ulsan HD to its third K League 1 title in a row after overcoming doubts about taking on the position midway through the season.

Kim's side defeated nearest challengers Gangwon FC 2–1 that day to secure the club's league title.