Tae-yong graduated from
Yonsei University in 1994 with a major in politics and diplomacy, and first became involved in Korean cinema through a friend, who was an assistant director of an independent production. Inspired by the vibrant atmosphere that came with working on a set, Kim then enrolled at the Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA) in 1996. He met and became friends with fellow director
Min Kyu-dong while at KAFA, where he and his classmates would work on short films as a part of the crew and doing lighting. In 1999, Kim and Min received the offer to direct
Memento Mori as a sequel to the horror film
Whispering Corridors (1998), and so began Kim's foray into commercial cinema. In some ways,
Memento Mori might be considered the most influential Korean horror film of the 2000s. Although it was not a box-office hit, the film is frequently cited by young filmmakers and cinema fans as a modern-day classic. At the time of its release and in the intervening years, most critics tended to focus their attention on the other of
Memento Mori's co-directors,
Min Kyu-dong, however the release of
Family Ties in spring 2006 established Kim as a highly regarded filmmaker in his own right. His intimate portrayal of a totally unconventional but non-dysfunctional family garnered multiple domestic and international awards. Kim's third feature film
Late Autumn was a remake of
Lee Man-hee's 1966 classic
Manchu set in
Seattle. It was also critically acclaimed and became the highest-grossing Korean film in China. Kim then joined the restoration project and re-directed
Crossroads of Youth (1934) by "performing" Korea's oldest known
silent film with live narration (by the
byeonsa) and musical accompaniment. Apart from his feature films, Kim has been active in a variety of creative endeavors, from hosting a cinema-themed TV show on
EBS to directing plays, shooting documentaries and making cameo appearances (both times as a film director) in the films
All for Love (2005) by
Min Kyu-dong and
Family Matters (2006) by Nam Seon-ho. == Personal life ==