Born in 1958, Dr. Kim received a Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering at Warwick University, England in 1989. Later he was Science Counsellor at the Korean Embassy and the Permanent Mission to the IAEA in Austria for three and a half years, and then served as Director-General of the Atomic Energy Bureau in the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). Most recently he was Secretary-General of the Presidential Advisory Council on Science and Technology. He has over 20 years of management experience in the administration of science and technology.

He was designated as ITER Deputy Director-General for Central Engineering and Plant Systems in July 2006.