She made her acting debut in the TV police procedural Chief Inspector and subsequently built a prolific career in film and television.

In 2009, she drew praise for her portrayal of a terminally ill yet headstrong mother who has a love-hate relationship with her daughter in the dramedy film Aeja (internationally known as Goodbye Mom).

[9][10] In 2006, Kim temporarily put her acting career on hold when she became the vice chairman of cosmetics firm Chamtowon, which mainly produces soap and mud packs.

During the eight months after the broadcast, the company went virtually bankrupt, and had to suspend operations at its factory in Jeongeup in North Jeolla Province and lay off 100 workers.

After the Korea Food and Drug Administration confirmed that the magnetic substance found in the mud products was oxidized steel originally present in the mud, not foreign materials put in the products during the manufacturing process, the court ruled in favor of Chamtowon, and ordered KBS to release a correction regarding the wrong report.