Despite multiple injuries early on in his career, he notably won gold at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics upon his international debut in the Boys' 1000 m event.

He would later win the 1000 m and 1500 m events in the Budapest leg of the 2017–18 ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup and earn selection for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

He competed in the Men's 500 m event, where he reached the final following respective first and second-place finishes in the heats and quarterfinals,[5][6] and the disqualification of Kazakhstan's Nurbergen Zhumagaziyev for obstructing Lim in the semifinal.

[7] In the final, however, Lim failed to make a podium finish, placing fourth behind South Korea's Kim Do-kyoum and Kazakhstan's Abzal Azhgaliyev and Denis Nikisha.

[10] Prior to his debut at the 2018 Winter Olympics, Lim won the 1000 m and 1500 m events at the September 2017 Budapest leg of the 2017–18 ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup, where he placed ahead of fellow South Korean skater Hwang Dae-heon both times.

[16] He solely found success during the Seoul leg through the South Korean 5000 m relay team, alongside Seo Yi-ra, Kwak Yoon-gy, and Kim Do-kyoum, placing second in their heat and semifinal, before winning the final race.

[21] In the gold medal final, Canada's Charles Hamelin collided with Hwang with three laps left in the race, leaving Lim the last Korean in the field.

It was found that the purported male victim was behaving aggressively toward the women present, and that Lim's pulling of his pants happened in a playful circumstance where everyone was fooling around.

After a strong comeback, Lin posted on social media sites Weibo, Xiaohongshu and Instagram mentioning that he will "work harder to come back better", for the 2023 Short track speed skating world championships scheduled to be held in Seoul, South Korea.