Kim was born on January 28, 1957, in
Eumseong,
North Chungcheong Province. After completion of high school, he worked as a
banker at Seoul Trust Bank (which is now
Hana Bank) while completing his undergraduate degree in law at the evening school of
Kookjae University. He spent most of his time in government at
Ministry of Economy and Finance and its preceding agencies where he began and ended his career in public service at. In 1982 he passed the state exams for both legal affairs and administration and began working as a working-level administrator at its preceding agency. He took numerous economy and budgeting related roles in government ministries,
Office of the President and presidential transition team. He was recruited by three consecutive presidents. He was
Lee Myung-bak's second vice finance minister and
Park Geun-hye's
minister for government policy coordination. Before being promoted to
Moon Jae-in's first finance minister, he was the 15th president of
Ajou University for two years. Kim holds four degrees: a bachelor's degree in law from
Kookjae University, two master's degrees in administration from
Seoul National University and the
University of Michigan and a doctorate in administration from the University of Michigan. ==Political career==