[4][5] Kim was born in South Korea and started playing guitar when he was 4 years old,[2] with his first introduction from his mother who had been a classical guitarist.
[1] He said he grew up in a family environment "filled with a desire for unification" because his father was from Hamhung, a city in North Korea, which helped him develop his personality as a musician who seeks a peaceful consensus.
[11] He has performed and collaborated with musicians including Joe Lynn Turner and Deep Purple,[12] Stuart Hamm, Scott Henderson, Guthrie Govan, Martin Taylor, Akira Jimbo, Steve Vai, Loudness, Lee Ritenour and Vinnie Moore.
[1][2][13] He has also performed for and represented brands such as Orange Amp, Yamaha, Boss, Roland, D'Addario, Carvin, EMG, Tronical, Suhr Guitars and Gibson.
He kept postponing attempting it himself until his interest was revived in May 2010 when he performed a duet on the SBS program Stocking with electronic violinist Eugene Park, who also played the legendary concerto.
[7] On the album he used his Suhr "Kim Se-hwang Modern Custom" guitar, custom-made for him by the company, to his specifications, after he joined them as an endorser in 2010.
[5] A year later, in June 2012, he performed Luis Bacalov's "Concerto Grosso" for I Musici's 60th Anniversary during their South Korean tour.
[22] He has described his inspirations as a long list of "Guitar Gods" that increases daily, including Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, AC/DC, Santana, B.B.
[5] He was the first Korean performer at the NAMM Show in Anaheim, California in 2013[2] In 2014, he donated his signature red Yamaha Pacifica Artist Custom "Kim Se Hwang" guitar for display at the Guitar Center store when he was inducted into "Hollywood's RockWalk", alongside those of guitarists Eddie Van Halen, Steve Lukather, Kirk Hammett and Slash, among others.