경기고등학교
Kim was born in Gurye, South Jeolla Province in 1946. He graduated from Kyunggi High School and earned his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Seoul National University in 1971. He earned his Ph.D in particle physics from University of Rochester in 1975. He became a research associate at Brown University from 1975 to 1977 and worked as a research investigator at University of Pennsylvania to 1980. Then he was appointed to assistant professor of Seoul National University in 1980 and had been there until retirement in 2011. Afterwards he took a position at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology in Gwangju. Currently he is distinguished professor and eminent scholar at Kyung Hee University.