She is the current South Korean national record holder in the event indoors and a former outdoor record holder.

[1] Having previously competed in the 100 metres hurdles, triple jump, and heptathlon, Lim competed in the pole vault for the first time in December 2007.

She quickly improved over a period of ten months, breaking the national junior record in Gwangju with a vault of 4.10 metres in October 2008.

At the Corporate Teams' National Competitions on 28 April 2009, Lim broke Choi Yun-Hee's outdoor record of 4.16 m by some distance, vaulting a height of 4.35 m. This record also made her eligible to compete at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.

[2] She finished bottom of her group with a best clearance of 4.10 m at the 2009 World Championships, but she went on to win the gold medal at the 2009 East Asian Games later that year.