In June 2017, he was nominated by President Moon Jae-in[1] and would be appointed to both positions in July.

[2] Kim graduated from Gwangju Jeil High School in 1968, and attended Seoul National University, graduating with a BA (1976), MA (1982), and Ph.D (1992) in Business administration.

From 1999 to 200, he would serve as President of the Korean Association of Labor Studies.

In 2009, he was appointed Superintendent of Education in Gyeonggi Province, serving in the post until 2014.

Kim would join the Democratic Party (then the New Politics Alliance for Democracy), and would serve as Chairman of its Innovation Council and Human Resources Recruitment Council.