Kim is an acclaimed pansori performer. He was chairman of the organizing committee of the Jeonju International Sori Festival (Sound of Voice & Music) from 2009 to 2010. He taught Theater and Film as an instructor at Woosuk University from 1997 to 1998, then taught Theater as a visiting professor at Korea National University of Arts in 1999.

Kim founded the Arirang Theatre Company in 1986, where he was active until 1999. He then became president of the National Theater of Korea from 2000 to 2005. Kim directed Korean stage play adaptations of Karl Wittlinger’s Do You Know the Milky Way? in 2009, and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (starring Lee Soon-jae and Jeon Moo-song) in 2013. He also produced Endless Voyage in 2012, a stage performance mixing ballet and traditional Korean dance.

In 2012, Kim published his autobiography Dreaming Clown, which elaborates on his various experiences with the arts and government.