Career
In 2002, he rose to stardom in the hit television drama Mission Mermaid. Mission Mermaid screenwriter Im Sung-han cast him again in her next drama, Lotus Flower Fairy (also known as Heaven"s Fate, 2004). But when Mission Mermaid was exported to Taiwan and the Philippines, foreign viewers had difficulty pronouncing his given name "Sung-taek," so to further build his Korean Wave profile, Kim adopted the stage name Kim Sung-minimum in 2005.
He then starred in leading roles in Single Again and Tears of Diamond.
Comic supporting roles followed in Couple or Trouble (2006) where he played a selfish yet hapless husband to an heiress, and Family"s Honor (2008) where he played a playboy twin brother who has an unlikely romance with a tomboyish policewoman. Then Kim surprised audiences by portraying a darker character, an adulterous husband in What"s for Dinner? (2009), followed by his first period drama, The Reputable Family (2010).
He also appeared in the popular variety-reality show Qualifications of Men, and during its run was selected as a guest by the United States Air Force Thunderbirds on their 2009 Far East Tour at Osan Air Base. On December 4, 2010, Kim was arrested in a drug scandal which also implicated other celebrities.
During police questioning, he admitted to habitually using methamphetamine and marijuana, and smuggling the former substance into of Korea.
On January 24, 2011, the Seoul High Court sentenced him to four years in prison. Upon Kim"s appeal, the jail term was reduced to 30 months suspended for four years, along with two years of probation, 120 hours of community service, 40 hours of substance abuse education, and a ₩904,500 fine. Kim was released from a prison in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province on March 25, 2011.
Because of this, he was dropped from Qualifications of Men and went on a hiatus.
After laying low for two years, Kim made his acting comeback in Can We Get Married? in 2012. On March 11, 2015, Kim was again arrested for purchasing and ingesting methamphetamine.
He allegedly bought 0.8 grams on November 24, 2014 from a dealer who had smuggled the drug from Cambodia. Foreign illegal drug use and violating his probation, Kim was sentenced to 10 months in prison and a ₩700,000 (United States$590) fine.
