The same year, Kim gained praise for her versatility since for her portrayal of Chae Shi-ra's childhood counterpart Hwangbo Soo in the period epic Empress Cheonchu, for which she learned how to ride a horse and shoot with a bow and arrow.

[3] Kim then portrayed an older mid 20s woman in the romantic comedy series He Who Can't Marry, a remake of Japanese drama Kekkon Dekinai Otoko.

[15] That same year, she also appeared in Music and Lyrics, a reality show in which an actress and a male musician are paired together to collaborate, as lyricist and composer respectively, in creating a song.

[21][better source needed] In 2014, Kim starred in the horror film Mourning Grave, playing a ghost girl who forms a friendship with a ghost-seeing high school boy Kang Ha-neul.

[24] Kim also joined the fourth season of reality show We Got Married, where she was paired with Song Jae-rim in a "virtual" marriage; it boosted their popularity as a couple and as individual celebrities.

[25][26] In 2015, Kim starred in the webtoon adaptation Scholar Who Walks the Night, playing dual roles as a nobleman's daughter and a vampire's past love.

Her training was put on indefinite hold after being scouted as a professional model in a 2003 junior advanced skiing and snowboarding competition in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province.