[1] He attended Suncheon High School and obtained a bachelor's and a master's degree in public administration at Kyung Hee University.

[1][2] He was brought to the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) by the then President Kim Dae-jung in 2000.

[1][2][3] In May 2019, Kim contested the party's election for parliamentary leadership but lost to Lee In-young.

[1][2][3][4] On 9 March 2021, Kim became the acting President of the Democratic Party following the resignation of Lee Nak-yon, which was considered to run for the upcoming presidential election.

[12] On 5 October, during the celebration of 11th anniversary of the 2007 North–South Summit Declaration held in Pyongyang, he was told by Ri Son-gwon, "Don't task financial issues to a big belly".